The Superhero Superstars - The Light of Darkness
by CidLover1
Summary: Months after the events in The Superhero Superstars, the Alpha Human Superstars work with the humans to maintain peace. However, when a rescue mission goes awry, the Superstars are forced to risk sacrificing world peace for one of their own. Rated M for language, future graphic imagery and suggestive themes.
1. The Now

Several months had passed since the world-altering events dubbed by the world as the Windham Events had occurred. The citizens of the planet had begun to rebuild their homes, their families, and their lives, and the pieces of creating a world where the human race and Alpha Human race lived in harmony had been put into play. While there were still skeptics as with all that is different, humans realized that being an Alpha Human was not something chosen but given at birth. Slowly, more people accepted Alpha Humans in their homes and establishments, but most importantly they accepted them in their lives.

The McMahon family, in an effort to not only help Alpha Humans discover their abilities but educate the world on what being an Alpha Human means, began building a program that allowed people all over the world, humans and Alpha Humans alike, to learn about the Alpha Humans and seek guidance on how to deal with either being or living with someone possessing Alpha Human powers. They named the program after the mansion they lived in before the Windham Events, calling it the Safe Haven Program. Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Paul "Triple H" Levesque, now the co-owners of both the WWE and the Safe Haven Program, made their newly renovated mansion on an island near New York City into both the main Safe Haven facility and a school for Alpha Human children with the support of the US Government and the President of the United States himself, and designated several of their WWE Superstars to act as part-time ambassadors of the program in their home countries where facilities were created. Safe Haven facilities were built up and supported in many different countries such as Canada and Mexico, England, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Japan, India and Australia, all of which were offered support and security from each of their government organizations in addition to the support from the McMahons.

* * *

It was a usually busy day for General Franklin Zodrick as the military spokesperson for the US government's involvement in the Safe Haven Project, his mission for him being to spread Alpha Human awareness amongst the US armed forces. That day, Zodrick had traveled with his security team to Arizona to speak at the army base there and had finally arrived. His team and he were humbly and respectfully greeted by several officers before being approached by a female officer.

"Sir," She said. "I am Lieutenant Colonel Ronda Rousey and on behalf of the Department of the Army, I would like to welcome you to Fort Huachuca, Sir." The woman known as Ronda Rousey saluted the General after repeating the greeting that the other officers gave him.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel." Zodrick said to her. "Walk with me." Ronda nodded.

"Yes sir." She said before following him down the long hallway of the building. As they walked, Zodrick spoke.

"I've read about you, Rousey." He said. "You are quite the soldier. Olympic silver medalist at 16, enlisted in the army at 19, made Lieutenant Colonel at 29." Zodrick then laughed. "Some probably think you're an Alpha Human after all that." Ronda gave the man a small laugh.

"I'm no Alpha Human, Sir." She said to him. "All that's just good old hard work." Zodrick nodded.

"Well, color me impressed." He said.

"Thank you for your accolades, Sir." Ronda responded. Zodrick then stopped in his tracks, causing everyone else to follow suit.

"No need to thank me just yet, Rousey." He said. "I'm not just here to speak with your soldiers about Alpha Humans. I'm here to offer you a place next to me in a project the President plans to launch." Ronda blinked at Zodrick's revelation.

"Sir?" She said to him, both shocked and skeptical.

"I can't disclose the details as of yet because I haven't pitched it to the President yet and we are still ironing out the sheets." Zodrick replied. "However, it basically is a supplementary assistance program for the current one the McMahons have in place with the President. It allows him to contact them if he needs immediate assistance with a dire situation. Our program would be the first responders in a way. It would have him contact our team first." Ronda nodded as she absorbed the information she received from Zodrick.

"You can count on me, General." She responded enthusiastically. Zodrick laughed.

"I appreciate your eagerness to please, Lieutenant Colonel." He said. "But I need you to think it over. You'll be taking on a bit more responsibility if you accept."

"Yes sir."

"We'll be in touch. See you at the summit, Rousey." With that, Zodrick and his security team left for the waiting room, leaving Ronda in the hallway to think about what she had been told. Being careful not to spend too much time ruminating, she collected her thoughts and went to continue her daily duties.

* * *

A massive, heavily secured room was full of workers at computer stations surveying what appeared to be communication satellites orbiting the earth above the Americas. In a glass room above the stations, an older man sat at a computer typing something when one of the workers knocked on his door.

"Come in." The man said. The door opened to reveal a younger man holding a folder.

"Here's the checklist for Satellite Gamma that you asked for, Mister Baxter." He said as he handed Baxter the folder.

"Thanks, Michael." Baxter replied. Michael turned to head out of the office but stopped and turned back around to face the other man.

"Uh, Cynthia also said she needed to see you about something. She said one of the main satellites is down again but she can't get it to reboot itself." Baxter's eyes widened as he stood up from his seat and pulled his key card out of the computer.

"Another one?" Baxter said with slight agitation. Michael stepped aside to let his boss through and closed the door to his office. Baxter walked down the aisle of stations and turned down one to approach Cynthia, a brunette woman with glasses, sitting at her station typing away at her computer. She turned after she felt the man behind her.

"Sorry to bother you, Baxter." Cynthia said to the man.

"No worries." Baxter replied. "Is it Epsilon again?"

"Actually no. That's why I called you down here." Cynthia began typing. "Theta is down this time."

"Theta? That's the President's connector. Get it back up and running."

"I've been trying, but I don't think it's a technical error." Cynthia proceeded to pull up what appeared to be a sonar chart. "This was around twenty minutes ago. The signal from Theta was abruptly interrupted and then Theta shut off altogether. I haven't been able to reach it from here at all. I tried everything I knew to do." She then pulled up another image. "Then I noticed near the twenty-one-minute mark that there was a large electromagnetic pulse near the satellite. It only lasted about a second which is why I missed it the first time I looked." Baxter cursed to himself.

"That means something's wrong with the satellite itself." He said.

"From the looks of it, something hit it." Cynthia responded. "Whatever the case, we can't fix it remotely from here until whatever broke up there is repaired." Baxter shook his head.

"He's not gonna wanna hear that." He said, referring to the President.

"I won't be the one to break the news to him, but you know he'll be calling any minute now wondering why God's Eye is gone."

"I know. Keep an eye on Theta for me, Cyn, and let me know if anything changes. I'll call the President so that a repair team can be dispatched asap." Cynthia nodded and turned around in her seat.

"You got it!" She replied. Baxter went back into his office to contact the President. He dialed a number on a heavy black phone and picked up the receiver. It rung once.

"Baxter." It was the President. "I was just about to contact you. I lost God's Eye about a half hour ago and it isn't back up yet. Is everything alright?"

"Actually, Mister President." Baxter began. "That's why I dialed you in. There seems to be something physically wrong with Satellite Theta. Something collided with it and damaged some parts. We won't be able to get it back online until we have it looked at and repaired." The President sighed.

"I knew it was only a matter of time." He said. "I will make sure to have a team out there within forty-eight hours."

"Alright, Sir. We will keep you informed if the status on Theta or any other satellite changes."

* * *

"Thank you, Baxter." The President replied before ending the call. He opened his drawer, pulled out a folder, and removed a piece of paper. He then dialed the number on it.

"We're going to need the repair team up to Theta." He said to the person on the other line. "It needs to be operational as soon as possible so I have connections with each Alpha Human facility. I'll make sure you have all that you need… Alright… Make it happen." The President ended his call and carefully placed the receiver back on its base. He adjusted his blazer and stood up out of his chair to step out of his office and face the remainder of his day.

* * *

The world seemed to finally be working towards accepting each other's differences and living in harmony. A sight that many had hoped of, many of those whom had come before them worked hard for, and some had only dreamed of.


	2. It Begins Again

"… We all have a light shining bright in us… but with that light comes the darkness. That darkness all of us wish to hide away from those we feel will never understand it. In reality, it is we who do not understand ourselves. It is we who do not understand the importance of the darkness and its role of the balance of who and what we truly are. Without our light, there is no darkness… and without our darkness, there is no light. It is when understand their reliance upon each other… when the balance is maintained that we understand ourselves. When we see that we all have a dark side within us, we learn to appreciate the light and the darkness as one… and learn that the intricate balance of right and wrong, light and dark… good and evil, is merely a line that can become blurred even under the deepest of scrutiny."

A classroom filled with silence as the child finished reciting the poem they were instructed to create by the English teacher whom was just as speechless as the other children. The teacher was none other than Rami Sebei, known in the WWE Universe as Sami Zayn. Quickly realizing that he had been rendered silent, Sami smiled at her student and proceeded to applaud her.

"Good job, Megan." He said to the girl standing in front of the class. The rest of the children began to clap for Megan's, all except for one little girl who raised her hand instead. Sami saw her hand raised and acknowledged her. "Yes, Gabrielle?"

"Mister Sami?" Gabrielle said in an oddly condescending tone. "I thought the project said we were supposed to write a story." Sami tried not to become irritated by 12-year old Gabrielle's snide remark about Megan's work.

"Well, Gabrielle." Sami started. "The project did say to write a creative story that spreads a good message to the class, but remember I said as long as it is creative and shares something you think is important that it doesn't have to be a real story. You could make it anything you want." In an expert maneuver, Sami transitioned away from Gabrielle's attempt at garnering attention. "So, I want a few of you to tell me what message you got from Megan's story." He knew exactly who to begin with. "We'll start with Gabrielle since she is sitting in the front today." The girl shifted around in her seat after being put on the spot.

"Well," She started. "I think she was trying to say that…" Gabrielle began to stumble as she felt Sami's eyes on her. "Umm. She was saying that, well, everybody's bad. Right?" Sami blinked.

"Is that what you think Megan was telling the class?" He asked her. Gabrielle looked down at her feet. "It's okay, Gabrielle. Remember that everyone sees things differently." He then looked to see that another child, a young boy, was raising his hand. "Yes, Mikey. What did you think of Megan's story?"

"I think she was saying that everybody is good AND bad, Mister Sami." Mikey said. "Like, we are all good inside but we can do bad things and think about bad stuff. Like, we all get in trouble sometimes." Sami raised his eyebrows and nodded his head.

"Good Mikey." He said. "Anyone else?" None of the other children spoke, so Sami continued. "Well, I'll tell you what I think Megan was trying to say." He then placed her hands on Megan's shoulders. "I think she was trying to say that we all do good things and we all do bad things, but we should all be nice to each other no matter what because you never know what someone's story might be. Very good, Megan. You can go sit back down now." Megan smiled at Sami then went to her seat with the rest of her classmates as they clapped for her. Sami looked at the clock to see that his class was on the verge of ending and took the class over once again.

"Well." He said to them. "I thought we had time for one more story, but class is about over so I want all those who haven't read their story yet to go home and practice with your family tonight. See if you can get them to tell you what they think your message is and share with the class tomorrow, okay?" As predicted, the bell rang and all of the students got up out of their chairs to head out of the classroom. Sami saw Megan and thought about her story. He called out to her.

"Megan?" He said, making Megan stop in her tracks. He walked up to her.

"Yes, Mister Sami?" Megan answered. Her teacher's expression was one of bewilderment.

"Did you write that yourself?" Megan nodded with excitement.

"Well, Dad helped me with some of the harder words." She replied sheepishly. "But I thought of everything else by myself." Sami's eyes widened.

"It was really good, Megan." He said to Megan. "Even better than a lot of adults." Sami then thought of something and sat back at his desk. He pulled out a pen and began writing on a note pad. "I'm gonna send a note home with you, Megan. It'll be a good one. I want to use your story in our school paper." Megan beamed from ear to ear.

"Really?" She said with excitement while Sami finished up the note for her to send home. Sami handed her the small slip.

"Take that home to give to your parents, okay?" He said to Megan. "Tell them to read it and sign it if they wanna let me use your story."

"Thank you, Mister Sami!" Megan replied as she turned around to head out of the class. "See you tomorrow!" She ran outside and joined the rest of her classmates.

Outside, the children filled the school buses getting ready for their trips home. Some of the children stopped and pointed at a woman walking out of the faculty parking lot.

"Look!" One said. "It's Miss McMahon!" All the other children looked to see Stephanie McMahon walking towards the building and immediately began cheering for her. Stephanie smiled at them all and waved as they approached her.

"Hi babies!" She said to them affectionately.

"Miss McMahon! When are you gonna come back and talk to us again?"

"Very soon, darling. Maybe next week sometime?"

"Really?" All the children awaited confirmation of any kind.

"If I told you exactly when, then I'd be spoiling the surprise." The children sighed and jeered in disapproval, making Stephanie laugh. "Now, now. You'll be happy once you find out who I'm bringing with me." Stephanie winked and the children began hounding her with questions about who the person was until they all heard one of the adults inside shout to them.

"Kids!?" It was none other than Kevin Steen, known to the WWE Universe as Kevin Owens. His voice got the attention of everyone outside. "Come on, it's time to go home. I'm sure your moms and dads are waiting to feed ya!" The children bid their farewells to Stephanie and boarded the school buses. Stephanie waved at the children and turned to meet with Kevin.

"Kevin!" She said cheerfully before hugging the man. "Good to see you again." Kevin twisted his face a bit.

"You come by every month, Steph." He said jokingly. "It can't be that good to see me anymore than that."

"Now." Kevin stepped aside to allow her to enter the facility, following behind her afterwards. Before they could continue their conversation, Sami saw them and called out.

"Stephanie!" He said as he ran to meet them. "You're here earlier than usual. Everything okay?"

"Well," She began. "You both know that John and Nicole's wedding is tomorrow. I came to make sure that you'll be there." Kevin chuckled.

"Of course, we'll be there." He said to her. "You could have just called for that. I mean, we didn't get white and pink tuxes just for Twitter likes."

"Which!" Sami said while pointing his finger to the sky. "Which, we would get all of!"

"Maybe you." Kevin said to Sami. "I'd get the by-proxy likes because I'd be in the pictures." Sami shrugged.

"They'd still be likes, ya know." They both turned their attention back to Stephanie and Sami continued to speak. "Well, Steph. Is that really the only reason you came up to Quebec?" Stephanie balled up her mouth.

"Yes and no." She said. "That is initially what I came up here for, but I figured we might as well see how this facility is doing since I'm here." She then held her hands up. "If you have time to sit down with me."

"Absolutely." Kevin said.

"Great. Well, let's go get started." The three began walking through the facility. Though not nearly as large as the Safe Haven mansion in New York, it was designed strikingly similar with many hallways that were all connected by a massive lobby. Standing in the middle of the lobby was a metal fixture, a monument created in honor of the late Mark "Undertaker" Calaway. Stephanie eyed the monument briefly before continuing with Kevin and Sami to the meeting room down the main hallway. Sami opened the doors for his friends and waiting inside sitting at the office table were Ronald Arneil, Jessica McKay, and Cassandra McIntosh (the three being known as Tye Dillinger, Billie Kay, and Peyton Royce respectively). Billie smiled upon seeing Stephanie and got up to hug her.

"Stephanie!" She yelped.

"Welcome back!" Peyton said. "You're early, aren't cha?"

"Good you're here, though." Tye said. "We were just gonna go over a new idea. Listen and tell us what you think?" Stephanie smiled.

"Actually," She started. "I came to make sure you'll all be at the wedding tomorrow and had planned on doing the facility check while I'm here anyhow. We can start with your idea." Billie clapped her hands together.

"Well," She started. "As I'm sure you know, we've not a lot of kids at this facility, soooo…" Billie then walked over to a folder sitting on the table and pulled out a piece of paper to hand to Stephanie. "We all thought of this!" Stephanie looked at the flyer. In large, animated lettering were the words, _Cookies, Candies, and Kindness_.

"Candy and cookie making." Stephanie said.

"It was mostly Jess's idea." Kevin said.

"I just figured since we don't have many children here," Billie said to Stephanie in a pleading tone. "…that getting their families involved in more of the things we do here would help get more people interested in coming to our facility."

"What better way than to get everyone doped up on sugar?" Tye said playfully, soliciting a punch to the shoulder from Peyton.

"We were gonna bring it up to you next week." Peyton said to Stephanie. "If you like it, we were going to have all of the kids make lists of their favorite candies and cookies then get the stuff to make the best ones."

"We were also going to take donations and have the parents choose which charity to donate the funds to." Sami added. Billie all but begged with her eyes; the project clearly meant a lot to her.

"I love this." Stephanie said with joy. Billie nearly jumped out of her skin.

"I knew you'd like it!" She said.

"Do you have a time frame?" Stephanie asked.

"We're hoping to have everything done and the project up and running by next month." Tye replied. "We wanted to run it by the parents because we want all the kids to be able to come. We'll come up with a date and get it to you as soon as we get it together."

"Wonderful." Stephanie said. Tye and Peyton's smiles then faded to a look of concern as they looked at each other. The room then filled with a tension that even Kevin was able to feel.

"Before we, um…" Sami started, unable to finish his thought.

"Is everything okay?" Stephanie asked.

"Well," Kevin took over. "We know that this doesn't really concern us since we live here in Canada, but we're worried about all those 'rescue missions' your president has been calling you for." Stephanie sighed, signaling that she all but knew the topic would be one of discussion sooner than later.

"The first one where you all helped a helicopter land safely wasn't bad at all." Billie said. "But the one in California during that earthquake…"

"Listen." Stephanie said. "I know that Shane has been leaping at every opportunity to make sure Alpha Humans are shown in a good light, even if those opportunities seem a bit dangerous. It's all for the best cause. It's all to make sure everyone knows that we are not bad guys out to get them."

"That sounds great, Steph." Kevin said. "But is that really all it's about?" Sami eyed his friend with a trying look.

"Kevin." He said sternly.

"What are you trying to imply, Kevin?" Stephanie asked Kevin, a serious look on her face. Not yielding, Kevin kept his gaze on Stephanie.

"I'm implying, as a non-Alpha Human… uh, human," Kevin said. "... that maybe you guys should think more about why you're constantly running to the rescue. Rather, to your president's rescue, and less about just saving us. I'm not gonna say you haven't been a great help to society, but we were doing just fine letting things happen before all this Alpha Human stuff came about, ya know." Stephanie blinked at Kevin's comment. Sensing the heightened tension, Billie attempted to diffuse the situation.

"Look, Stephanie." She intervened. "We're just worried. That's all. We don't want anybody getting hurt or anything like that. Anybody. We know that keeping the peace is important to you. It's important to us, too, but…" Billie stopped herself before she finished. Tye then took the reign.

"Think about it this way, Steph." He started. "If you got bailed out every time something happened to you and you were in too deep, not only would you forget how to save yourself but you'd start depending on someone to save you every time you got into trouble. You'd stop caring about the decisions you make because you'd always have that backup plan to keep you from falling on your ass. You'd be living without any consequences. We think that's kinda what's going on right now and we're afraid it's gonna get worse before it gets better. We don't want all the hard work to turn into something like that."

Stephanie sighed. She knew that they were right. The circumstance in question was an offer pitched to the President sometime after the State of Peace that occurred after the Windham Events by Shane McMahon. With the intent of creating a peaceful rapport with the President, Shane offered direct assistance from a group of select Alpha Human Superstars should he require their aid. The calls began with minor disaster relief assistance, but became higher in risk and slowly more personal over time. Shane answered every call, however, sometimes going against the wishes of both his sister and brother-in-law. Stephanie took a breath.

"I know that, Ronald." She said. "I know all of it." Silence fell over the room once again and, once again, Billie tried to break the tension.

"Guys." She said. "Perk up. John and Nikki are finally getting married tomorrow! We should be happy!" Stephanie, pulled from her ruminations, smiled.

"Right." She said. "Let me know about the date you all choose for your project as soon as you know. Don't be late to the wedding!" Stephanie stood up out of her chair and everyone gave her a hug to bid their farewell.

"Thank you so much for coming to see us, Stephanie." Peyton said to Stephanie.

"Always a pleasure." She replied before stepping out of the office, leaving the five in the room to their own devices. When they no longer heard her heels, Billie ran to close the office door.

"Kevin!" She snapped. "What the hell was that? I thought you were gonna try NOT to be abrasive! You practically rubbed her bloody skin off!"

"What other way were we gonna give it to her, Jess?" Kevin retorted. "It's a problem, okay? They've been running around, playing superheroes, and saving the day and it's getting ridiculous!" Kevin then looked at Sami. "Rami, you've seen it! Putting out fires, putting up buildings and stuff, saving people from earthquakes and hurricanes and whatever else. You were there for that stuff. You can't tell me it's not getting outta hand!" Sami looked down at his feet and rubbed the back of his neck.

"We were supposed to ease into it, man." Tye said to Kevin. "It's a sensitive topic. I thought we discussed that we were just gonna focus on John and Nikki's wedding and getting the project pushed through for this month." Upon Tye mentioning the wedding, Peyton found the opportunity to change the topic.

"Speaking of the wedding," She said, grabbing Tye's arm. "We gotta pick our outfits up from the cleaner!"

"You want us to pick your tuxes up for you?" Billie said to Sami and Kevin. Sami nodded.

"Yeah, Jess." He replied. "It'll probably be too late for us to go by the time you guys get back."

"Alright." Tye, Billie, and Peyton headed out of the room. "We'll bring you back some food, okay?"

"Got it!" Kevin shouted back at them down the hallway. He then turned to his friend whom was eying him with an intense look. "You know I'm right. Don't you?"

"It wasn't the time, Kevin." Sami said. Kevin stepped in closer.

"Then when, Rami? When woulda been the time? When one of you finally gets hurt rebuilding the Empire State building after the President decides to use it for training purposes, will that be the time?"

"Shane's only doing this to help keep the peace, Kevin." Kevin then grabbed Sami's arms and shook him a bit.

"Rami, listen!" He said in a forceful whisper. "I know Shane has been your mentor for a long time, but even you see what's going on. He's putting you guys in more danger each time he sends you all out to defy nature or whatever the case is this season." Kevin let go of his friend. "Is it really for world peace, Rami… or is it for his own peace of mind?" Sami blinked at his friend's question and looked as if he already knew the answer.

* * *

Stephanie sat in the backseat of her limousine silently ruminating on her way to airport. Her mind weighed heavy on what the Superstars said to her moments ago. It revived her concerns about her brother and his actions as of late regarding his relationship with the President. Deciding to focus on John and Nikki's wedding, she pulled out her phone and dialed Triple H's number back in New York. It rung twice before he answered.

"Yea Steph?" Triple H responded.

"Hey." Stephanie said. "I'm just finishing up here and headed back. Everyone is still coming so you don't have to change the number of guests. How is everything going there?"

* * *

"Everything's good here. I've got the garden prepped and I'll take care of the flowers tomorrow like we planned. Mercedes and Catherine are putting Nikki up in a hotel in the city and staying there with her until tomorrow. They've got her taken of. Dean, Colby, and Miro went to pick up tuxedoes. The decorators are still working on everything here." Stephanie sighed through the phone.

"Wonderful. I can't wait to see how everything looks." She thought to ask about Shane, but she knew she would not be able to have the conversation she wanted over the phone. "Well, I just wanted to check in and let you know I'm on my way back."

"Alright." Triple H replied. "See you soon, Love."

"Love you." Stephanie ended the call and Triple H put his phone back in his pocket. He then turned around and looked at the lobby. It, along with the rest of the lower part of the mansion, was being decorated from head to toe by a group of professional interior decorators. They used several accent chairs, surfaces for candles, and white and pink balloons at the behest of Nikki Bella. Some of the decorators were on ladders decorating the ceilings with strategically placed white and pink lace streamers with gold accenting. Even with everything that was set up, there was still much to do. Triple H was then approached by one of the decorators.

"Mister Levesque." He said to him. "We wanted to know where you all wanted to hang the photo display." The man pointed at a large oil painting of John and Nikki standing next to each other. "It's a little large so we were thinking about hanging it in front of the monument over here." Triple H shook his head.

"Nah." He said. "Nikki would want people to still be able to see Mark's statue." He looked around and found a spot that caught his attention. "What about over there?"

"Near the gift table?"

"Perfect." The decorator nodded and instructed the workers carrying the painting to carry it to the designated spot. Triple H then heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Wow, Paul." It was Shane walking down the stairs dressed in a formal suit. "Everything's looking nice." Triple H eyed Shane.

"Speaking of looking nice." He said as his brother-in-law made his way to him. "What's got you dressed up?"

"Well, I'm on my way to speak at a children's home in Syracuse." Triple H furrowed his brow.

"Steph's on her way back." He said to Shane. "You wanna just wait for her?" Shane waved.

"It's alright. I'll take care of this one. Besides, I'm sure you both have something planned with the wedding when she gets back." Triple H nodded.

"Alright, Shane." He said, stepping aside to let the man pass. "Let us know if you need anything while you're there." Shane walked past him.

"Will do, Paul." One of the decorators opened the door for Shane to exit the building. Triple H looked at the spot where Shane was standing as his mind wondered onto Shane then back to getting the mansion ready for the wedding.

Upstairs, John Cena was sitting down on his bed thinking about his wedding. His nerves were getting the better of him as he went over his vows once more and John became frustrated at his inability to remember the words Rusev helped him write.

"Fuck." He cursed as he threw the piece of paper on the floor and buried his face in his palms.

"Relax." He heard the voice of his best friend, Cesaro, say to him as the man stood in the doorway. John looked up out of his hands.

"Make me." John said. Cesaro narrowed his eyes and folded his arms at John's simple yet snide response.

"You don't have to beat yourself up memorizing words you already know." John sighed.

"Easy for you to say, Claudio." John said. "You're not the one getting married tomorrow." Cesaro unfolded his arms and went to sit down next to the other man on the bed.

"John." He said. "You're about to say two words to a woman you're already been spending the rest of life with. You have nothing to be nervous about." Cesaro then put his hand on John's shoulder. "If you can't shake the nerves, just remember that there won't be strangers there. It'll just be us."

"I know." John replied. "To be honest, all this is for Nikki. The flowers, the balloons, the cake, all of it. I just don't wanna mess it up for her." Cesaro shook his head.

"You have no idea how impossible that is for you to do." John then laid back on his bed.

"Can't you just blast the nerves away?" He said. "You know, with your powers? You helped me propose to her." Cesaro stood up and laughed at the man.

"Not when you can get it together on your own." Cesaro turned to head out of the room. "Get some rest so you can actually function tomorrow." John's mind diverted to Cesaro's previous statement.

"Claudio?" John said, sitting up. Cesaro stopped.

"Yes?"

"When I asked you to be my best man, you said no… as politely as I've ever been rejected in my life. You never told me why, though." Cesaro sighed and shook his head.

"I just don't do well being a part of weddings and all of it." He told John. "I'll still be right there with you. It's just one of those things that makes me uncomfortable." John nodded.

"Oh." Then, a silence fell on the room for a brief moment before John spoke again. "Are you sure that's it? Everything else is okay, right?"

"Everything is fine, John. You focus on getting your rest." With that, Cesaro left John in his room, closing the door behind him. John stared at the door where Cesaro stood. He could not help but feel that his friend was withholding something from him, but could not figure out what that might have been. His thoughts drifted back to his wedding and his head began to pound. He laid back and looked out of the window.

"It's still sunny out." He said to himself quietly.

* * *

General Zodrick had just finished giving his speech on Alpha Humans in the military and headed to his room to retire for the rest of the day. One of his team members sat his bags down for him near his bed.

"Thank you." He said. "That's all for today. Go enjoy yourselves. I'll call you when I need you."

"Thank you, Sir." The man said to Zodrick before the other team members and he left the room, closing the door behind them. Zodrick removed his rank and locked it up in a container he kept specifically for them along with his corporate phone. The moment he started to make himself comfortable in his room, however, he received a call on his corporate cell. Knowing only one person with direct contact to the line, he rushed to open the box back up and answer it.

"Yes sir?" Zodrick answered.

"I hope the summit went well." It was the President. "Are you secure?"

"Yes sir. Go ahead."

"Theta is down. I am having a support and repair team sent out to fix it as we speak. If you lose contact with the New York or Canadian Safe Haven facilities within the next few days then that is why."

"What happened to it?"

"We will find out when the team reaches the satellite and returns a report. I will do my best to keep you posted while you're away."

"Thank you, sir."

"And General?"

"Yes?"

"Try to relax, will you?" Zodrick almost sighed, but felt it would be disrespectful.

"I will try, sir." He said instead. He almost felt the President smile before he ended the call. Zodrick closed up the phone and locked it away with his ribbons. He stared at the box for a moment before sliding it under his pillow and laying his head down to rest.

Outside in the summit area, Ronda was giving a debriefing to the soldiers detailing instructions for their weekend.

"If you do plan on going out for a night on the town," She said to them. "Take a buddy with you who you can trust to get you home safely. I don't wanna hear about anyone passing out, fighting, or anything else like that. Also, make sure…" One of Ronda's captains then approached her with an urgent look on their face.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Colonel." The captain said as he saluted his superior. Ronda looked over at him.

"Yes, Captain?" She said sternly.

"You have a phone call on your desk line." Ronda furrowed her brow as she knew it was important. She turned to her soldiers.

"You all know the rules." She said, wrapping up the debriefing. "Stay out of trouble or stay home because if I catch wind of it, they'll be hell to pay! Get outta here!" With that, she released her soldiers and turned her attention back to the captain. "This had better be important, McKellar."

"It's your husband, Lieutenant Colonel." The captain told her as they walked to her office. Ronda blinked a few times as she thought about what he could want that warranted him calling her desk phone and not her office phone. As they reached her office, she turned to the captain and saluted him as a gesture of thanks.

"I'll take it from here." She said. "Have a good weekend." The captain returned her salute.

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel!" He said before leaving her to her call. Ronda stepped inside her office and locked the door behind her before picking up the receiver.

"Lieutenant Colonel Rousey." She responded, checking her emotions before answering.

"You know," Her husband, Travis, said to her. "I love it when you use your rank on me." Ronda snickered and sat down at her desk.

"Why didn't you call my cell? Is whatever this is important enough for it to need to be secured?"

"Well, actually yes, Babe. It is. I got my first repair detail."

Travis had been training as an astronaut for several years as a part of a security project that was initially created as a way to survey the entire planet via satellite usage. The project had been put on hold since the Windham Events, but was restarted and reinforced three months afterwards. Travis had been waiting to begin the team's first mission since then. Ronda's face lit up upon hearing the news.

"Travis!" She said. "That's great news! We'll celebrate when I get home."

"Well," Travis said somberly. Ronda's excitement faded slowly.

"Well what?" She asked. She then thought. "There's a reason why you didn't wait to tell me in person. Isn't there?" Travis sighed.

"The thing is, this mission came straight from the man himself. I can't tell you everything, but it's an emergency satellite repair and we got called to leave ASAP to begin prepping for take-off. I'm already at the camp. I called you at your desk because it's not supposed to be released to the public until we're ready to launch and I won't be home to tell you when you get there." Ronda swallowed as she began to feel a lump in her chest.

"I see." She said to Travis.

"I'm sorry, Babe. I know we had plans this weekend."

"It's alright, Travis. It's the nature of the beast. You've gone through it, too, with me having to pick up and leave at a moment's notice. Guess it's time for a taste of my own medicine."

"Well, it sounds shitty when you say it like that." Ronda laughed a bit.

"Good. Be safe up there, Baby. I love you."

"I love you, Babe. To infinity." Ronda ended the call and stared at the phone for a moment thinking about her husband. She then collected her thoughts along with her personal belongings and stepped out of her office to head home for the weekend.

* * *

Nikki Bella and her sister Brie Bella sat together at a table in a quaint coffee shop talking amongst each other about Nikki's wedding as they waited for their orders.

"Oh my god, Nikki." Brie said. "Tomorrow! Can you believe it?"

"I'm excited." Nikki said with glee. "I cannot wait to show everyone the dress I chose."

"They were all beautiful. I feel like you chose the strapless mermaid."

"You'll have to wait and see." That moment, Sasha Banks and Lana came to the table with four cups of coffee.

"Alright, ladies." Sasha said. "The drinks are here." Brie went to grab one of the cups before Sasha stopped. "That one's Nikki's. She asked for something special in hers." Lana then pulled out a very small bottle of what looked like vodka. Nikki's face lit up.

"Yes, girl!" She said as she high-fived Lana. Brie nodded in feigned disgust.

"Is this why you've been so calm?" She asked. "Have you been drinking this whole day?"

"Well," Nikki said. "You can't drink because you're pregnant, Brie."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Still, though." Lana said to Nikki. "How are you not nervous or anything? I was a wreck the whole month before my wedding."

"Are you kidding?" Nikki replied. "I'm a wreck. I drink to mellow out so I don't drive you girls crazy. You thought Brie was bad during her pre-wedding stuff. If I weren't mellowed out, I'd be the Queen of the Bridezillas!"

"Girl, I cannot imagine!" Sasha took a sip of her coffee before speaking.

"You think Stephanie and Paul are gonna talk to Shane again?" She asked her friends.

"It'll go in one ear and out the other." Brie said. "We've all said something, but it's always the same excuse about keeping the peace or whatever."

"I mean." Nikki started. "I can see how what we're doing helps. We're using our powers to do good things."

"Maybe." Lana retorted. "It seems to me, though, that it's getting a little out of hand. Don't you think?"

"I don't know." Sasha said with a bit of flair in her voice before taking another sip of her coffee. "I'm with Cat on this one. We need to chill. Shane needs to chill." Nikki then felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out to see she received a text from John. She smiled immediately, Brie noticing the change in mood.

"Why are you even here?" Brie asked her sister. "Like, why aren't with him if you're just gonna text him all day?"

"Because I wanna be surprised when I see everything set up, Brie." Nikki said with slight irritation. "God."

"Well, excuse me, Moody Monster Bride. I just think you're gonna be up in the clouds tomorrow anyway. Why not just spend the night back at the mansion with John instead of torturing yourself and being out here with us?" Nikki looked at sister with apologetic eyes.

"You guys aren't torture! I love being with you. I just… can't believe I'm getting married."

"You're getting married." Lana said playfully.

"I am." Sasha then joined in on the fun.

"You're getting' fuckin' married, girl!" She yelped.

"Yes!" The three women then started shouting as Brie shook her head with an amused look on her face.


	3. The Wedding Send-Off

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. This chapter is pretty long as I couldn't figure out where to break for the next, but enjoy!**

Ronda's home was abnormally quiet that night as usually Travis would have been up either watching training tapes or playing video games with her (usually the latter). The silence almost drove her to the nearest convenience store just to get away, but she instead decided to turn on the television and mindlessly flip through channels. Ronda managed to find old reruns of a show Travis and she used to watch when it was running. It was about two men and a woman who worked to find faults and flaws in common myths and practices using creative, sometimes dangerous methods. Her husband watched it since it began and ended up getting her into it. However, all the show did that night was make her think about him more.

"Dammit." Ronda swore to herself before turning off the television. While she had gotten used to the life of them being apart for long periods of time due to her status and rank in the military, she was always the one who left Travis at home. She had not experienced being the one left to their lonesome at home while their spouse was off working abroad and the inexperience showed in her inability to distract herself. Ronda looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was getting late. She stood up and went to the kitchen for a glass of water before heading into the bedroom to attempt to sleep. Ronda undressed and laid in the bed, looking over at the side Travis slept on all the while. She then looked up at the ceiling and sighed.

"My god." She said aloud. "Trav, how do you do this when I have to leave?" That moment, Ronda heard her government cell phone ring and knew it had to be important. Her mind prepared her for the call about one of her soldiers getting arrested for driving under the influence or fighting in a bar, but it did not prepare her for who it was on the other end.

"Lieutenant Colonel Rousey." She answered.

"General Zodrick here." Zodrick replied. "Project Alpha One has been expedited. The President has instructed that we begin building our force immediately and I want you to be in charge of the force. I'm requesting a change of command and duties for you as we speak."

The news nearly floored Ronda. Though Zodrick announced the existence of the project to her, he was vague with his information and she assumed it was a project that was to be put in place later rather than sooner. She had not spoken to Travis about it yet and she knew that she would not be able to with his mission beginning the following morning. Her brief thoughts were broken up by Zodrick's raspy voice.

"I need you at the address I'm sending to your number in about two hours so that we can leave and head back to DC." He said to her. "I'm not leaving without you, so don't keep me waiting. And don't worry. I'll personally make sure that everything back there at home is taken care of."

"Yes sir." Was all Ronda could gather the wherewithal to say. The call ended and she was sent the address. Without thinking twice, she sat up out of her bed and began gathering her things to leave.

Travis sat with his five team members awaiting the final details and briefing before their mission began. As they waited, Travis began thinking about his wife, Ronda and the weekend at Ronda's favorite amusement park they had planned together. The thoughts distracted him so deeply that he was unable to hear one of his team members call out to him.

"Earth to Travis!" The man said waving his hand in Travis's face. The motion pulled him out of his mind.

"What, Rex?" Travis said with an annoyed tone.

"Just asking if you were ready for our mission, man." Another member spoke up.

"His mind's probably on L-T-C." She said referring to Ronda. Rex looked at her and then back to Travis.

"Is your mind on L-T-C?" Travis looked at the woman.

"Why do y'all call her that, Maki?" He asked her.

"Because that's what she is." Rex said. "Duh." The female team member laughed before a man and a woman stepped into the room. The team collected themselves so they could listen to their mission.

"On behalf of the President of the United States," The man started. "I want to thank you for answering the call to duty." The woman then handed each team member a folder. "In that folder are the details of the mission I am about to describe to you. Please pay attention." The man proceeded with explaining the mission.

"The primary mission," He began. "… Is to assess and repair the downed communication satellite Theta. You will assess all aspects of the satellite to include mechanical and technological components and report your findings directly to the President using communication modules located on the shuttle. You will make the necessary repairs after the assessment and report your progress. Once your mission is complete, you will return to camp. In the event you are unable to complete your mission, you will inform the President and he will deal with you all as he sees fit. The shuttle provided to you will be operated by your team under remote supervision and will fully equipped with the tools you requested. You will begin the launch protocol at 0600 hrs. We will see all of you at camp tomorrow morning. You're free to go to your rooms." With that, the man and woman left the team to their own devices. Rex furrowed his brow.

"Wow." He said. "This is pretty fucking awesome, right?"

"No!" The other female team member said. "Not even! We aren't using Stefan!"

"Really, Sarah?" One other team member said. "You named our practice shuttle?"

"Stefan was simple, but complex. Easy, but not sleazy. What if this shuttle's computer is overworked like most everything else the government gave us to use? Hell, what if we can't rewire the satellite? Do we get fired, because he made seem like we get fired if we mess this up." Travis shook his head at his obviously nervous teammate.

"You're the biggest computer tech we have on the team." Travis said to Sarah. "You can turn an old MS-DOS program and push it to run a fucking train. Nothing they've got on that shuttle is gonna top that." He then slapped Rex on his back. "Besides, Rex and Maki are the ones who have to fly it, and me and Eckers are the ones who are gonna be out there working on the satellite. You and Franklin are gonna be working inside. You'll be fine. We all will." Travis then stood to his feet. "Let's go get some sleep. We got a big day tomorrow."

The night had fallen on the Safe Haven mansion. The designers had gone home earlier that day and Mojo Rawley, along with Rusev and Seth Rollins, spent their time getting Cena fitted into his tuxedo before finally retiring to bed. Triple H and Stephanie spent the night checking on the other facilities in the country. Triple H called Joe Anoa'i, known as Roman Reigns, to check on the Florida facility being managed by him along with Jimmy and Jey Uso, Naomi, Nia Jax, and Charlotte Flair. All of them were on the road driving up to New York to attend John and Nikki's wedding when Triple H had called and he heard them all singing along to the radio.

"H-H-H!" Everyone else shouted after Roman answered the phone. Triple H laughed to himself before speaking to them.

"I'm guessing you guys are on the road." He said to all of them.

"Yeah." Roman answered. "We left earlier today so we could be there early tomorrow morning."

"Good to hear. How's the facility been this week?" Jey spoke up.

"All good, Paul." He replied. "We got a few new students in and nothing broke down."

"We had some of the usual protesters." Naomi added. "We handled it, though."

"Yeah." Charlotte said. "We talked them down and got them outta there before they upset the kids."

"Good, guys." Triple H said to them.

"Galina and Jojo are watching the place while we're away this weekend." Roman said to Triple H. "Everything's covered. Are you coming down next week to see the place?"

"It'll either be me or Steph. Shane's got Cali and Washington this month."

"We'll be ready for ya." Jimmy said.

"Alright. Drive safe, guys. See ya when ya get here." Everyone then shouted at Triple H through the call.

"Bye!" They said to him.

"See ya soon, Paul!" Naomi added before Roman ended the call. Almost as if on cue, Stephanie stepped into the room with two plates of salad and chicken breast.

"Hey babe." Triple H said to her. "How's Brian and the facility in Washington doing?"

"The facility's doing great." Stephanie replied as she sat a plate in front of her husband and took her seat. "Brian's just missing Brie per usual. He's gonna be a great father. The kid's gonna be spoiled rotten, though."

"No doubt. He's coming to the wedding right?"

"That's what he told me. I'm shocked, though. He would normally be here already for events like this."

"I know, Steph. That's why I had to ask." Triple H then looked into the hallway behind him. "Shane not back yet?"

"He's on his way back now." Stephanie answered. "He should be home in a few. You know we're on everyone else's radar because of the rescue missions." Triple H nodded.

"I'm sure." He replied. "We've been making the news as of late, especially after Cali." Triple H then thought about Cesaro. "I'm still kind of worried about Claudio. I know you guys said he's alright, but I don't know. He seems a bit off."

"Trust me, Paul." Stephanie said. "He's going to be okay. He found out his father wasn't dead and his mother not only made up an elaborate story about his past and hid the truth from him, all that in one day, four months ago. I think it's gonna take a bit of time to find some normalcy after all that." Triple H closed his eyes as if trying to process what his wife said to him.

"I guess you're right." He replied. "But that's why I'm worried. He was having issues controlling his powers before all that. How do you know he's able to control them now that he has to deal with it? Are you certain he'll be able to deal with this by himself?"

"He won't be by himself, Paul." Stephanie replied. "He's got us."

"Right, but there's only so much we can do for him." Stephanie contemplated on a response, but Shane stepped inside the room before she could speak. The couple looked at the man as he entered.

"Hey guys." Shane said casually. "Everything okay?" Stephanie nodded.

"Everything's fine." She said. "We were just making some last minute calls to everyone before we headed to bed. There's more food in the kitchen if you're hungry."

"I'm all good, Steph." Shane took his seat.

"How did your visit go?" Triple H asked.

"Same good time as always." Shane replied. "I got to speak with some of the younger crowds this time and they were a great crowd. You guys have to attend one of these events sometime. You'll learn a lot from everyone." Stephanie smiled.

"We usually have things going on here at the mansion." She said to her brother. "But we'll try."

"Speaking of things going on." Triple H said. "This wedding situation."

"I'm glad it's finally happening," Shane said. "But I'm so glad it'll be over tomorrow."

"It's a wonderful occasion, guys." Stephanie said. "Think about how John and Nikki must be feeling. Their nerves have to be torn to shreds."

"I can only imagine." Shane said before standing up and stretching. "I'm gonna go change and head to bed." He hugged his sister and his brother-in-law. "Don't stay up too late." With that, the jovial Shane left his family in the room with themselves and went to end his day. Triple H then nodded.

"I guess that's your cue." He said to Stephanie. "You should go ahead and head to bed, too. I'll wait up for the others. I don't think they have a key yet."

"Are you sure you wanna stay up?" Stephanie asked her husband. "You've been busy all day. I'm sure you're tired. I can stay up and wait for them." Triple H shook his head.

"It's alright. I'm good." Stephanie smiled.

"I know you're tired. I can see it in your face." She then kissed Triple H on the lips. "Go get some sleep. I'll wait up for them." Instead of arguing, the man stood to his feet, leaned over, and returned a kiss to Stephanie.

"Don't stay up too late." He said before leaving Stephanie in the room alone. The woman heard Triple H's footsteps trailing up the stairs and she sighed as her mind reverted back to her friends' words from earlier. Before she could dwell upon them further, however, she heard Cesaro's voice call out to her from the entry way.

"Stephanie?" He said to her. She looked up from her plate of food.

"Claudio." She responded. "What are you still doing up?"

"You know me. I don't need much sleep nowadays." Stephanie sighed.

"Well, I'm glad you're awake. I actually wanted to talk to you."

"Oh." Cesaro then made his way to the table and sat down next to Stephanie. "Okay." The woman took a deep breath before speaking.

"Claudio." She said. "Are you alright?" Cesaro blinked at Stephanie's broad question. Sensing his confusion, Stephanie went on. "Is something on your mind? I noticed you've been a little distant lately." Cesaro looked down at the table before responding, thinking about what to say to Stephanie to keep from worrying her and to keep her from worrying about him.

"I'm fine." Cesaro said simply. "Really."

"Are you sure?" Stephanie asked with a hint of skepticism. "You know you can talk to me about anything." Cesaro nodded.

"I know and I thank you. I'm truly okay. I guess the wedding's exhausting me even though I'm not in it." Somehow, Stephanie felt that Cesaro was not telling her everything. Instead of pressing the matter, however, she decided to lead on the conversation.

"John told me about that." Stephanie said. "Why'd you turn him down?"

"Weddings have always stressed me out." Cesaro replied almost robotically. "I'm not sure why, but the thought of being a part of such a big moment in two people's lives just… I don't know. It makes me uncomfortable. I always felt like I'd mess it up somehow." Stephanie put her hand on Cesaro's.

"There would have been no way for you to mess up your best friend's wedding, Claudio." She said to him. "But I'm glad you'll be there with everyone else." Stephanie then thought about Cesaro coming down to see her. "You're certain everything is okay?"

"Yes, I promise." Cesaro replied. "I was about to get some air until I saw you in here staring at a salad." Stephanie nodded.

"I'm alright." She said. "Just getting my mind ready for the wedding tomorrow."

"Understood. I'll leave you to it." Cesaro then stood up from the chair. "Don't stay up too late." Cesaro left Stephanie in the room by her lonesome once more, the woman growing slightly annoyed with hearing the phrase 'don't stay up too late' as if she were neglecting herself.

The President of the United States sat at his desk with his publicist and advisor standing in front of it. Moments ago, he had instructed him to make the information about the shuttle launch public and, as expected, the news outlets flooded with stories, coverage, and speculation as to why it was being done. Several news stations were asking for information on why the shuttle was launching and why the information was put out mere hours before the launch date. The President sat trying to decide on which of the three responses the publicist offered to him would be most efficient.

"Either decision you make, sir, will bring about more questions." The advisor said to him. "You can glorify the shuttle launch and tell the press that this is simply a test run for the new shuttle system, but you'll have to divulge information about the project. If you respond to why you are truly launching the shuttle, you may open up questions about the satellite program. Lastly, overlooking that information and simply answering why the mention of the launch was put out so late will force you to answer why it was launched in the first place." The President nodded his head.

"I figured all that." He said. "I just needed a second opinion."

"Thank you for trusting mine, sir."

"Yes." The President then turned his attention to his publicist. "I want you to go ahead and tell the press that the shuttle launch is to fix the security satellites for the facilities. They already know about them. We can say it is a communication connection issue that needs to be addressed so that we are able to contact them all over the world. Give them as many details as you can without divulging any classified information. I don't want them to be worried about any of this. We will assess the rest when the time comes." The publicist nodded in compliance.

"Yes sir." He responded.

"Also, please send my congratulations to John and Nicole Cena for me." The man nodded again.

"I'll get right on it, sir." The publicist left the room. The President knew that he would be facing a storm of news requests and questions following the press release, so he decided that it was time to rest for it all. He stood out of his chair and the guards standing outside immediately ran to his side until they were halted.

"It's alright." The President waved. "I'm simply headed to my room. If you all want to do something, though, you can lock up the office when I leave."

Nikki Bella laid in her hotel bed next to Brie staring at the ceiling, her mind slowly being buried under thoughts about John and her big day. Lana had tried her best to subdue the anxious feelings psychically before the quartet went to bed, but they ended up returning as the morning drew near. Through means none other than sibling intuition, Brie woke up to see Nikki wide awake.

"Nikki." Brie called out, sleep riding her voice. "Why aren't asleep? You have to be up early." Nikki sighed.

"I can't sleep." She replied. "I keep thinking about tomorrow."

"We can wake Cat up and she can-"

"No, it's fine. Let her sleep." Nikki smiled to herself. "I'll get some sleep. I'm just excited. Weren't you excited the night before you married Brian?"

"Oh my god, yes." Brie said with quiet enthusiasm. "You were there the whole time. You remember the bachelorette party?"

"You mean the party where you basically played Mother Chastity and didn't do anything? Yeah, I remember."

"Hey. I was sick."

"Yeah, sick of the single life."

"No, I was legitimately sick. The anxiety gave me a headache. I was so nervous about the wedding that I kept obsessing about it in my head and hoping everything went the way I wanted them to go." Brie then turned over to face her sister. "Look, I know you wanna be surprised, but get real. You're nervous. It's okay to be nervous. You're about to get married. Just try to think of it as letting everybody else know what you already know. Isn't that what you told me?"

"Well yeah." Nikki replied. "That's because I never saw myself being where you were then… where I am now."

"Well, you're here. You're getting married in about thirteen hours and losing sleep is not gonna be a good look on you. You might as well get some sleep so you can be up and less cranky than you normally are so we can dress you. Mercedes is in charge of doing your hair and we want her to be able to finish it in time without you changing it every four minutes."

"I don't change my hair that often." Nikki said in an annoyed tone.

"So says your stylist."

"Oh my god, Brie. Go back to sleep." Brie snickered and rolled over.

"No need to tell me twice." She replied. "You better get to bed, too. Good night again."

"Night again, Brie." Nikki almost instantly heard Brie begin to snore, indicating that she had fallen to sleep. She decided to close her eyes and attempt to do the same.

It was six o' one in the morning and the team of Travis, Rex, Maki, Sarah, Eckers, and Franklin were being prepped for their mission. Their nerves were on edge as they were being fitted in their gear. Sarah, most notably, began to tremble which made it difficult for her to be fitted.

"Andrews!" The crew member fitting her said. "Hold still!" Maki noticed Sarah trembling.

"Get your shit together, Sarah!" Maki shouted. "This is no time for a panic attack, ya hear!?"

"Don't scream at her, Maki." Travis demanded. "That's only gonna make it worse." Without moving, he then diverted his attention to Sarah. "Sarah. We're gonna be fine. It's our first mission. We've been practicing for this. We're fixing the satellite and coming back home. Pull yourself together."

"I'm sorry." Sarah pleaded. "I'm trying. I'm just really nervous."

"Calm down. Take a breath and relax. Remember that we're trained to do this." Sarah nodded shakily before attempting to relax herself. The crew member continued fitting Sarah in her gear.

"Look at you being a father figure." Eckers said jokingly. Travis chuckled before the words set into his mind and struck a mild nerve. He thought about several times in the past where Ronda and he spoke about starting a family and a feeling of worry began to set in. He began to worry about whether Sarah's fear of failure was truly warranted. It was, after all, a mission given to them directly from The President of the United States. If they failed, it would indeed be the end of their budding careers as astronauts. To strengthen his sentiments, they were technically going into the mission knowing the extreme least amount of information about what happened to the satellite and how they would be able to fix it. As the team leader, however, he knew he could not allow those feelings to cause him to shirk his duties. He pulled himself together, gathered his thoughts, and continued to prepare with his team.

"Bro… Bro!" John's eyes snapped open to see Mojo, Rusev, Seth, and Big E standing around his bed, the latter arriving earlier that morning ahead of his two friends Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. John then noticed that all of them were dressed in their wedding garbs. He looked over at his clock and saw that it was a little past seven.

"It is the day of your wife's wedding." Big E said jokingly. Rusev held up the tuxedo John was to wear.

"Yeah." He said. "And we need you to put this on before ten, so get up and let's go!" John nearly groaned at the excitement of his friends after not sleeping well, but quickly remembered his wedding was in a few hours. He shot up out of bed.

"I'm up, I'm up!" He shouted. "What all do we need to do?"

"_We_ don't need to do anything." Big E said. "_You_ need to get yourself together so _you_ can put this tux on."

"Don't you guys have to help me put it on?" Seth furrowed his brow.

"What the hell, John?" He replied. "It's just a fancy tuxedo. You know how to put this on!"

"Alright, alright!" John snapped back. "Get out. Let me get dressed." The four men shrugged and left John's room to allow him to get dressed.

"I'm going back downstairs and wait for Catherine." Rusev said. "Let me know if you need me."

"We got this, Miro." Mojo said. Rusev nodded and went downstairs to the lobby. At the mansion entrance, Stephanie was greeting several guests whom had arrived early and showing them where to place their umbrellas and ponchos (it had begun to rain sometime earlier that morning) and where they could sit while they waited. Stephanie saw Rusev coming downstairs.

"Miro." She greeted him. "How's John doing? Is he okay?"

"The beauty king was just waking up." Rusev replied. "But don't worry. We got him together. He'll be ready." Stephanie nodded.

"Thank goodness." She said. "The girls should be here in about an hour. John will need to be out of the mansion so he doesn't see Nikki before the wedding." Rusev nodded. "We'll let you know when they get in."

"Gotcha." Rusev responded before going back upstairs. Stephanie then heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Steph!" It was Becky Lynch. She, along with Finn Bálor, his brother Ciaran Devitt, Noam Dar, and Sheamus, traveled from the Ireland facility to attend the wedding while Finn and Ciaran's parent Fintan and Leonie stayed behind and kept it up. Stephanie's face lit up upon seeing her friends, each of them carrying a wet umbrella except for Noam who opted to wear a raincoat.

"You're here!" She greeted them all, hugging them each. "It's so good to see all of you again. Thank you so much for being able to come."

"No problem, Stephanie." Noam replied. "Wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Yeah." Ciaran added before handing Stephanie a beautifully wrapped wedding gift. "Sorry Mom and Dad couldn't come. They said someone needed to be watching the place, so they sent this." Stephanie smiled and took the gift.

"I'll tell them thank you from the newlyweds." Stephanie said. "I hope the trip wasn't too much."

"Nothing we haven't done before." Sheamus said. "I was gonna swim here, but Fergie over here thought I'd soak my suit." He then punched Finn in the shoulder.

"Understandable." Stephanie said with a laugh. "Well, the wedding isn't for another few hours, so go catch up with everyone. You can leave your umbrellas and coat here." The group then left to go mingle with the guests. All of them, except for Finn. He stopped in his tracks and approached Stephanie.

"Uh," He stammered. "Stephanie?" The woman turned to face him.

"Hm?" Finn hesitated before shaking his head.

"Never mind." He said.

"What's on your mind, Fergal?" Finn put on his signature smile.

"It can wait, Stephanie. Now's not the time. I'm gonna go see how everybody's doing." Finn left Stephanie behind to wonder what it was he chose not to say to her. Her thoughts then drew on what her friends in Canada had said to her the day before. As if summoning them, Stephanie heard Peyton's voice call out to her.

"Stephanie!" She said as she ran to greet the woman. Peyton, along with Tye, Billie, Sami, and Kevin, had finally arrived. Sami placed the wedding gift he was carrying on the table with the rest of the gifts.

"It's great to see you all." Stephanie said to them. "You all look great!"

"Don't say that again." Kevin said to her. "Jess took so many damned selfies! I don't think I have the energy to photobomb anymore." Billie huffed.

"You took just as many, Kevin!" She retorted. Stephanie waved her hand.

"Alright, you two." She said before turning to Sami. "The wedding's not for another two hours, so feel free to hang out with everyone until we call everyone to their seats." The five of them left to join the others and almost immediately, Stephanie heard Daniel Bryan's voice call out to her.

"Stephanie!" He all but shouted at her.

"Brian." Stephanie replied with a hug. "Thank you for coming. It's so good to see you." She then threw her hand up. "Before you ask, Brie isn't here yet." Daniel smiled and shook his head.

"I wasn't gonna ask that." Stephanie pursed her lips together. "I was just gonna apologize for not being here last night. I couldn't tear away from the mansion until yesterday morning and I had to reschedule my flight."

"Okay, Brian." She said a sarcastic smile. "Everyone's inside the theater if you want to join them. You can leave your umbrella right here." Daniel placed his umbrella in the bin with the others.

"Could you let me know when Brie and Nikki get here?" He asked Stephanie, the woman smiling while trying not to laugh.

"Will do." She said. "Go say hi to everyone." Daniel turned to go be with the others. Without reprieve, Stephanie was hugged by an emerging Paige.

"Steph!" She yelped. "I feel like it's been forever!"

"It's only been about a month, Saraya." Stephanie replied.

"It feels like that month crept by." Paige then handed Stephanie a gift. "Sorry Mum and Dad couldn't be here. They're back home watching the place. They sent this with me." Stephanie accepted the gift.

"I'll tell them thank you for John and Nikki." She said to Paige.

"Awesome." Paige replied. "I'm gonna go get on everyone's nerves." Paige hugged Stephanie once again before departing to speak with her friends. Stephanie looked outside to see others walking up to the mansion. She then noticed that the rain, along with the clouds they fell from, slowly dissipated. She knew the cause almost instantly. She then saw everyone outside look up at the sky. Stephanie looked up to see none other than Phillip Brooks descending from the sky with his wife April "AJ" Mendez-Brooks in his arms. Everyone applauded the duo as the rain stopped and they reached the ground beneath them. Phil playfully bowed as AJ shook her head and headed for the mansion after seeing Stephanie standing in the doorway.

"Sorry for the entrance." AJ said to her before hugging her. "You know how Phil is."

"It's fine." Stephanie said. "Just glad to have you both here." Stephanie then noticed AJ's attire. She was wearing a beautiful deep blue dress that came down to the top of her knees and matching shoes, and her hair was done up in an African goddess chignon. "Your outfit is wonderful."

"One of the girls at the facility helped me pick it out." AJ said. "You know how bad I am at dressing up."

"It looks great. Keep it in your pocket." AJ smiled.

"I will." Phil joined the two women, hugging Stephanie upon seeing her.

"Good to see you, Steph." He said in a playful tone.

"I see you're still the extra life we all need in our own." Stephanie retorted.

"What? I can't have it raining today, of all days, if I've got something to say about it." He then looked behind Stephanie. "Everyone inside?"

"Yeah." Stephanie replied. "Go say hi. The wedding isn't for another two hours." Phil and AJ went inside, leaving Stephanie to greet the other guests and see them into the mansion. After a while, she saw Lana's vehicle parking. Lana and Sasha stepped out of the ride carrying Nikki's wedding gown and casually walked up to Stephanie.

"Girls." Stephanie said. "Where's Nikki?"

"She and Brie are waiting in the city for the limo." Sasha said. "They should be on their way here now."

"Okay good." Stephanie pulled her phone out and began typing a text message. "I'll let the guys know that she's on her way so they keep John from seeing her before the wedding."

In the limousine, Nikki and Brie sat silently waiting to arrive at the mansion. Brie knew that if her sister was silent, it meant that her mind was focused on something. This time, the something was obviously her wedding. She wanted to ask her if she was okay, but she knew that it would only be given an 'I'm fine' retort and decided to keep quiet and give Nikki time to collect her thoughts. The silence was broken, however, by an outburst from Nikki.

"Geez, Brie!" She yelped. "Aren't you gonna ask if I'm okay like you always do!?"

"Hey!" Brie snapped back. "I thought about it, but I thought you were gonna lash out so I didn't say anything."

"Well, don't do that. We've got another thirty minutes until we get to the mansion and the silence is killing me!" Brie rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Nikki. Okay. Are you okay?"

"Hell no, I'm not okay! I'm getting married in, like, two hours! I'm nervous, anxious, and I think I need a drink."

"Not before the wedding, Nikki!" Brie said.

"Definitely after then!" Nikki sighed. "How many people do you think are gonna be there?"

"I dunno." Brie answered. "All the people, maybe." Nikki sighed again and looked out of the car window. "It's gonna be wonderful, Nikki. Don't be nervous. You literally cannot mess anything up today because it's you and John's day. They're gonna clap for whatever you do out there, so get comfy."

"Yeah." Nikki said as she looked at her sister. "But still. We're actually getting married. I never thought he'd ask me to. We've been together for so long."

"Well, it's happening, so enjoy this moment, sis." Nikki turned back to the window and continued her gaze. Brie then heard something play over the limousine radio that sounded like a news broadcast and spoke to get the driver's attention. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes, ma'am?" The driver responded. Nikki turned to look at her sister once again.

"Could you turn the radio up please?" The driver obliged and Brie began listening in.

"_… this morning._" They managed to catch the broadcast late, missing much of the beginning. Nikki looked at her sister confused.

"What are listening for?" Nikki asked.

"I heard her mention the President and I got interested." Brie replied before continuing to listen.

"_The shuttle is set to launch in approximately three hours from now and is set to return home in three days after the repairs to the Safe Haven Facilities satellite have been finished. NASA will provide us with more details as the program begins and is underway. Be sure to turn in on your local news broadcast channel to see the launch live at noon. We'll be back with your top five songs of this decade as voted…_" Brie and Nikki stopped listening after that.

"Thank you, sir." Brie said to the driver. "You can turn it back down now. Did you happen to hear the beginning of that?"

"The President is launching a repair team up to one of the Safe Haven Communication Satellites today." The driver replied. "That's all. I think you heard the rest of it."

"Thank you." Nikki said to the driver.

"My pleasure."

"Guys." Mojo said to Rusev, Seth, and Big E as they all waited around in John's bedroom. "Steph said that the girls are on their way back. We gotta keep John from seeing Nikki before the wedding." Seth shrugged.

"Well." He said. "That shouldn't be hard at all since he locked himself in the fucking bathroom!" Seth almost pounded his fist on the bathroom door, but Rusev stopped him.

"Chill out, Colby." He said. "He's having a moment. Give him a sec." The four men then heard John call out from the bathroom.

"I'm fine, assholes!" John shouted. "Just about to get married. You all know how that goes. Wait. No ya don't!" Rusev, the only one out of the men to be married, stepped out in front.

"It'll be over before you know it, John." He said calmly. "Your stomach's probably turning cartwheels and your head's chasing behind it, but that won't last long. You'll be done in no time. Don't worry about it." Rusev's calm demeanor seemed to work as John slowly stepped out of the bathroom, soliciting cheers from his friends.

"Finally, man!" Seth said.

"Why'd ya make your way out after Miro spoke to you and not us?" Big E asked John.

"Miro's been married." John said.

"You have, too, though."

"Yeah, but this one's different. Nikki's different. At least…" John hesitated a moment. "I feel like she's different. Nikki's the real deal. I feel like I want to spend the rest of my life with her, but I feel like she wants the same thing." Rusev put his hand on John's shoulder.

"You'll see she really does want it." He said. "And you're gonna love that feeling as much as you hate what you're feeling right now. Trust me."

Travis and his team stood in their gear waiting in the decontamination area for their cue to enter the shuttle and begin the launch process. Time seemed to stand as still as they did while they waited and while some of them wanted to speak, their nerves did not allow it to be. Travis looked out of one of the windows and saw the massive shuttle standing on its base as a mass of staff prepared it for take-off hours from then. Maki, staring out of the window as well, looked away and towards the hanger that led to the outside. There, she saw a slew of bodyguards enter the room which signaled to her that someone of great importance was entering. They all then heard Eckers speak out.

"Guys." He said. "I think the Pres is on his way in."

"Oh my god." Sarah said in a slight panic. "Don't say that. I'm not ready." Sure enough, the President entered the room along with Baxter, the head of the satellite communications department, and his assistant Cynthia nearly surrounded by the bodyguards and made his way to the team. As they all approached, the bodyguards stepped aside to allow the officials to step ahead.

"Good morning to you all." The President said to Travis and his team. "We wanted to personally come to thank you and to wish you all good luck and good fortune."

The time had finally come for John and Nikki's wedding to begin. Everyone had been seated in their seats in the garden of the Safe Haven mansion and the bridesmaids (Sasha Banks, Lana, Alicia Fox, and Nia Jax) and groomsmen (Rusev, Big E, Seth Rollins, and Randy Orton) were in their places. The garden was designed with various beautiful white, lavender, and pink flowers along with matching decorations across the landscape. Triple H had used his powers not only to decorate the land with the flowers, but also to raise the earth to create a natural stage for John and Nikki to stand on. All in attendance admired the décor and talked amongst themselves until music began to play. They all looked back behind them to see John Cena in his tuxedo walking down the aisle with a smile on his face. He slowly walked past all of his peers with his eyes fixed on the makeshift stage until he finally stepped foot on it. He looked down at his feet.

"_Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!_" was all that crossed John's mind, his nerves clearly besting him. He was able to keep his thoughts from turning into audible words, but unfortunately his facial expressions more than gave him away. Randy, standing right next to John, glanced over at him then furrowed his brow without saying a word. John straightened his face and looked out to all of his friends. He, along with everyone else, then heard Triple H speak.

"Everyone." He said. "Please stand for the bride." Everyone seated stood to their feet and John's nerves shot through the roof. Cesaro, standing in the middle of the audience, felt the sudden shift and attempted to calm John.

"_It's alright._" He said in John's mind, feeling him slowly calm down. "_You can do this, John. Just say whatever is in your heart. She loves you._" John consciously nodded at his friend's words and looked towards the top of the aisle. There, walking with Brie, was Nikki Bella holding a beautiful bouquet and wearing a magnificent pearl white floral wedding dress adorned with strategically placed diamonds and lace complete with an elegant train, matching pearl shoes, and a headdress with a lovely veil. John watched lovingly as Brie led Nikki down the aisle and, to him, she looked every bit as magical as he know she would. Nikki carefully made her way up the altar and Triple H led Brie to her seat before asking everyone to take their seats.

The repair team had finally entered the shuttle and had quickly taken to their stations after nearly three hours of decontamination and being fitted into their suits. Rex and Maki took their places in the piloting station, the others taking their seats behind them. Sarah looked around at as much of the shuttle that her helmet allowed and noticed that much of it was identical to the test craft that they used in their training modules. A great deal of the anxiety she felt began to subside. They all fastened themselves into their seats.

"This is it, guys." Rex said as he looked back at his teammates. "We're going into outer fucking space!" Maki smiled and shook her head.

Outside in the operation area, Baxter and Cynthia stood over one of the stations that were in charge of the cameras and communication inside the shuttle when General Zodrick and newly appointed Major General Ronda Rousey entered the area. Baxter looked back to see the duo and saluted them before Zodrick waved him off.

"No need for that." Zodrick said. "We're just here so I can introduce Major General Rousey to the tech team."

"Nice to meet you, Major General." Baxter said. "I'm Curtis Baxter. I'm in charge of this portion of the telecommunications department." Ronda shook Baxter's hand.

"Good to meet you." She said. "Just Rousey is fine, though." Cynthia stepped to Ronda to introduce herself.

"Good to have you on board, Rousey." She said as she extended her hand. "I'm Cynthia Mayoli. I'm the lead technician. I kinda oversee all these guys while I'm working on the floor here, but trust me when I say that no one here truly needs to be supervised. We're all just that damn good." Ronda smiled to keep from laughing.

"Glad to hear that." She said to Cynthia.

"I'm kidding, but we are pretty good at what we do down here. That's why we're in charge of keeping up with the International communication satellites and making sure they're fully functional at all times." Cynthia began walking towards one of the stations, the others following behind her. The young man sitting at the station got up from his chair and allowed Cynthia to take his seat momentarily. "We're preparing a repair team's communication outlets for their shuttle as we speak. We'll have the audio running here in a moment." Upon hearing the information, Ronda thought about her husband.

"Do you know their names?" She asked Cynthia. "The members of the team?" General Zodrick chimed in.

"Why would you need to know that?" He asked Ronda.

"I think my husband might be out there on that team." Cynthia blinked as she eyed the computer screen. She put on the headset, pressed a key and held on the keyboard and spoke into the microphone.

"Team." She said. "This is Cynthia Mayoli. I'll be your point of contact during your mission. All of you please state your names for me." Everyone in the shuttle began calling off their names.

"Russell Haas." Rex said.

"Maki Setomura."

"Travis Browne."

"Franklin Greene."

"Sarah Caracciolo."

"Jason Eckers." Ronda smiled upon hearing their names as she knew all of them well, especially her husband Travis.

"Anyone sound familiar to you?" Cynthia asked her.

"All of them do." She replied. "Travis is my husband and the rest are the guys we was in training with. We're all close." Cynthia then got an idea.

"Major General Rousey has a few words of encouragement for you." The team inside the shuttle heard Cynthia say. Rex furrowed his brow.

"Rousey?" he said. "As in L-T-C?" They all then heard Ronda speak, confirming Rex's question.

"Uhh…" Ronda fumbled. "Just make it back home safe. You all got this mission in the bag." Zodrick eyed Ronda with confused eyes. They then heard Travis speak.

"You're still awkward on the microphone, huh, Major General?" He said playfully, making Ronda roll her eyes and blush slightly. They then heard Rex shout.

"L-T-C!" He shouted. "Congrats on the promo! We're all gonna celebrate when we get back!" Ronda laughed at her friend.

"Keep it formal, Rex." She said. "Seriously. Be safe out there. We'll see you all back home." Ronda stepped away from the screen and Cynthia stepped up again.

"We will begin the launch protocol in three minutes. Get yourself ready for take-off." Ronda eyed the computer screen as her husband and friends prepared to be sent into outer space. She then felt Zodrick's hand on her shoulder.

"You'll be able to see the launch from where we're going." He said to her. "Let's go." Ronda nodded as Zodrick looked to Baxter and Cynthia. "Thanks guys. Keep up the great work." Ronda and Zodrick left the area, Baxter eying the two as they made their exit.

"Wasn't she a Lieutenant Colonel?" He asked aloud. "That was a quick promotion." Cynthia looked at Baxter.

"I've learned not to question the ways of the Generals above us." She responded. "Their ways are best understood from far off. Like, very far off."

"We are here on this beautiful day today, to celebrate one of life's most precious moments, and to cherish the words which unite John Mark Anthony Cena and Nicole Stephanie Garcia-Colace in marriage." John and Nikki smiled at each other as the priest continued to speak. "Marriage is the promise between two people who love each other, who trust in that love, who honor each other as individuals, and who choose to spend the rest of their lives together." The priest then turned to the couple. "This ceremony will not create a relationship that does not already exist between you. It is symbol of how far you have come these past few years. It is a symbol of the promises that you will make to each other to continue to grow stronger as individuals and as partners. No matter what challenges you face, you now face them together, and no matter how much you succeed, you now succeed together. The love between you joins you now as one." The priest then looked at the audience. "The bride and the groom would like to share their words." He stepped aside and allowed Nikki to take the floor first.

"John." Nikki began, looking into John's eyes. "We met each other doing what we loved and from that moment, I knew that I would be spending the rest of my life with you. You let me be myself when the world wants to be someone else. You show me that it's okay to cry every now and then, and you are the shoulder that I cry on. You accept me when I'm in the worst and best places. You remind me every day that love exists and that I've found it in you. I am so grateful to have you in my life, to be standing right here in front of you. I'm grateful to be able to say that I will stand by your side as your wife, your support, your strength, your comfort, and your foundation. I love you, John."

John, on the verge of tears, tried to muster the courage to tell her what he wanted to tell Nikki but was taken aback by her declaration. As the audience applauded Nikki's words and soon after, it was John's turn. Everyone courteously halted their applause so that John could speak.

"I…" John began, thinking about the speech he wrote down. He then decided to speak outside of it. "I've done all this before. I've been standing up on a stage in a tux, she told me she loved me and told her that I loved her. But with you, it's different. I can feel how much you love me, how much you support me, how high you stand for me, how close you stand next to me, how bright you shine for me in the dark. I can feel it all standing right here in front of you, Nicole, and let me be the first to tell you that... it scares me. It scares me because I don't know if I can show you how much everything you are means to me. But as long as I'm breathing, I'm gonna be right here by your side with every ounce of me. I'm gonna protect you, support you, give you everything you need. I'm gonna do my damnedest to show you… how much I truly love you." Nikki did her best to keep from tearing up as the audience began to applaud John's words to her. The couple then got ready to exchange rings, Nia handing Nikki her ring first.

"I give this ring to you, John…" Nikki said. "…as a symbol of my love and faithfulness. As I place it on your finger, I commit everything I am to you. My heart, my soul, and my love. Please, wear this ring as a reminder of our vows spoken today on our wedding day." Nikki then placed the ring on John's finger. Randy then handed John his ring.

"I'm giving this ring to you…" John said. "…to show you the love for you that will always live in me. I ask that you wear it, cherish it, and honor it as deeply as my love for you." John slowly placed the ring on Nikki's finger. The two then took each other's hands and the priest proceeded with his next words.

Everyone in the shuttle made sure their suits were secured before securing themselves into their seats as various voices chimed in on the radios; they were crew members communicating amongst each other about the launch procedure.

"T-minus one minute." One of the members said over the line, making Sarah tense up.

"Oh gosh." She said as if she were confirming the events for herself. "We're really headed out. This is really happening."

"You gotta chill the fuck out, Sarah." Franklin said sitting behind her. "Get it together. We can't be shook up there. We gotta get our head in the game so we can work on this and get back here ASAP."

"I'm fine. I promise. It's just that this is all so surreal. I've always wanted to go into outer space and now it's about to happen. I'm just excited!"

"We all are, Sarah." Eckers said. "We all are." At the front, Travis and Maki were preparing the controls for the launch.

"Thrust support controls on." Maki said.

"Backup pilot controls ready." Travis said.

"Charging secondary air supply now."

Inside the launch site headquarters, Zodrick and Ronda walked down a long hallway and stopped at a room with massive windows offering a view of the shuttle.

"I've gotta talk to the press." Zodrick said to Ronda. "You can watch the launch from here without worrying about reporters bothering you for right now. I'll come get you when I'm all done. If you need to step to the bathroom, just use your keycard to get back in."

"Got it, Sir." Ronda replied. Zodrick nodded.

"Enjoy the view and make yourself at home." He said before turning to tend to his duty of addressing the press, leaving Ronda to her own devices. She stepped inside the open room, closing the door behind her. Her eyes immediately drifted to the shuttle outside and thoughts of Travis filled her head.

"Do you, John Cena, take Nicole Garcia Colace to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for the rest of your days so help you God?" John nodded.

"I do." He replied. The priest smiled then turned to Nikki.

"And do you, Nicole Garcia Colace, take John Cena to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for the rest of your days so help you God?" Nikki smiled and nodded.

"I do." She replied. The priest nodded.

"I am certain there will be no objections," He began. "But I must ask that if there are any objections to the union of John Cena and Nicole Garcia Colace, please speak now or forever hold your peace."

"Countdown to launch." Cynthia said over the radio as the team prepared to launch the shuttle. "T-minus ten… nine… eight… seven…" The thrusters of the shuttle ignited and the stands holding the shuttle in place retracted as it prepared to take off. "Six… five… four…three… two… one… Prepare for lift off!" On her call, the shuttle slowly began its successful ascent into the depths of outer space.

"If there are no objections," The priest said with a smile. "Then with the power vested in me… I now pronounce you… husband and wife." He turned to John. "You may kiss the bride." John smiled at Nikki and proceeded to kiss her passionately. Everyone in attendance erupted in joyous cheers and applause for the newlyweds. Nikki then ripped off the bottom of her dress to reveal that it was simply a cover and she, in fact, was wearing an elegant champagne dress. She waved the fabric in the air, soliciting more cheers.

"Yes girl!" Naomi shouted. "Woo!" John took Nikki's other hand and raised it in the air and shouted…

"I love this woman!"


	4. Where No Man Is Meant To Be

**A/N: I apologize about the delay. Life seems to keep getting in the way. I hope it was worth the wait for you all. More to** come!

The space shuttle launch team inside the launching area kept a watchful eye on the repair team and the rocket they sent up through the atmosphere and towards the fallen satellite. Baxter stood in front of the massive screen that showed the shuttle's cabin and listened carefully as Travis and Maki called out commands as the shuttle neared the edge of the atmosphere.

"Preparing separation from rocket launcher." Travis said as he flipped several switches and readied the shuttle to detach from the rocket. Maki nodded as the shuttle continued to ascend, rumbling through the atmosphere all the while.

"Preparing separation in five…" Maki began the countdown as the shuttle passed the edge of the planet and entered outer space. "Four… three… two… one… " That moment, the rocket launcher separated from the shuttle. Back on Earth inside the launching area, the team witnessed the shuttle separation through various sensors and radars.

"Shuttle 010, Launch 001 has been successfully completed." Baxter said. "I repeat. The launch is a success." Everyone in the room applauded the achievement. He then looked over to one of the other technicians. "Tell the General that the launch was a success so he can tell the press." That moment, they all saw Ronda Rousey enter the room with a concerned look on her face.

"Is it true?" She asked. "Did everything go good?" Baxter, surprised at Ronda's concern for her friends overriding her rank and the upholding it called for, nodded with wide eyes.

"The launch was a success, Major General." He told her. "They are on course to reach the downed satellite in about five hours." Ronda almost leapt upon hearing the news, but quickly remembered her company and who she was to them. She simply smiled and nodded.

"Thank you." She said to them. "If you don't mind, I'll be staying in here while the mission is under way." Baxter nodded and looked at Cynthia.

"Very well, Major General." Cynthia said to Ronda. "Have a seat wherever there's a free seat. Just please don't touch any of the equipment."

"Alright." Ronda said as she sat down at one of the stations. "I'll stay put."

Outside of the room, General Zodrick was headed towards the control room before he was stopped by the technician sent to give him the news.

"General!" The technician said as he stopped in the man's presence.

"I was just headed in there." Zodrick said. "Everything alright?"

"Yes, sir. I was told to tell you that the launch was a success and the shuttle is set to arrive on time." Zodrick smiled and nodded.

"Thank you." He replied. "I'll be sure to update the press, as much as I hate talking to them." The technician nodded, not knowing how to respond to Zodrick's comment about the press.

"Well, sir. I'm going to go back to my station. We'll keep you informed of any changes with the mission." With that, the man went back inside the control room to continue his work. Zodrick sighed as he mentally psyched himself up to deal with the numerous news reporters waiting outside of the building before stepping out to face them.

In the shuttle, Travis got up from his seat up front and allowed Rex to take it.

"You're up, Rex." He said to the man as they passed each other. "Don't break anything." Rex pushed Travis into his seat.

"Shut the hell up!" He said as he took to the seat next to Maki and flipped a few control switches to lower the power of the thrusters. Travis took the empty seat next to Eckers.

"Everything's looking good." Franklin said aloud to the crew as he looked over the details on the monitor next to him. "Vital signs are tip-top, shuttle's still in good shape. We're good to go for now. It's just a waiting game." Sarah sighed.

"I already wanna be back on the ground." She said.

"Chill, Sarah." Rex said. "We'll be at the satellite in about thirty minutes so just hang tight." Travis directed his attention to the front of the shuttle out of the window. He marveled at the sight of the cosmos, an endless sea of black that was full of mesmerizing stars and distant celestial bodies that distracted him from the happenings of his crew. Without thinking, he spoke.

"Are you guys seeing all this?" Travis asked his team. Eckers looked over at his captain.

"Seeing what?" He asked Travis.

"Some people wait their whole lives to see this up close. Some people spend that same time wishing they could be where we are right now." Travis's inner musings came to the front of his mind as he realized a dream many people have had. "Look at us, guys. We're in outer space."

The crew took several minutes observing outer space. The dreams of many people were, indeed, to visit the confines of the world outside of planet earth and see everything that they saw only in movies and books. What likely seemed like work for most astronauts was a dream come to life for Travis and his friends. After some time, Sarah spoke.

"Well." She said. "It's a shame L-T-C couldn't be here with us."

"Yeah." Franklin added. "She'd have loved to see all this."

Down on earth in the launch control room, Baxter and Cynthia eyed one of the monitors that displayed the distance of the shuttle from the downed satellite via radar. Ronda looked over at them and wondered what they were looking at.

"What are you two looking at?" She asked as she absent-mindedly stood up from her seat and walked over to where the pair were standing. "Everything's still good, right?"

"Just keeping an eye on the shuttle course." Cynthia answered. "They should make it to the satellite in about fifteen more minutes." Baxter folded his arms, slightly annoyed with Ronda's sense of curiosity.

"You plan on being in here the entire mission?" He asked. Ronda gave the man a look of acute disdain.

"I'll be in here as long as my husband is on that shuttle." Ronda responded with a cold tone. "I hope that doesn't bother you, Curtis." Baxter looked at her after she addressed him using his first name, Cynthia looking away from the two upon feeling the mild tension between them.

"No, Major General Rousey." Baxter said to Ronda. "No issue at all. Make yourself at home." Ronda sat back down at her station. That moment, the room heard Rex chime in over the radio system.

"Central Command." Rex said. "Haas here. We can see the satellite from where we are now and it looks pretty good physically." Baxter put a headset on to reply to Rex.

"You should be close enough to work on it in about six minutes." He responded.

"We'll be ready." Travis said. Inside the shuttle, Maki prepared to slow the shuttle down as they approached the satellite.

"Lowering engine power." She said as she flipped a few switches.

"Gotcha." Rex said after following her lead. Franklin looked off into the distance.

"Rex is right." He said. "The satellite doesn't look beat up at all. Must be something going on with the computer."

"We'll find out in a minute after we go out there." Eckers replied. "It might look good, but we can't tell from here." The shuttle slowly came to a halt.

"Alright, guys." Rex said. "Get your stuff. We're parking." Travis and Eckers unbuckled themselves and went to the back of the shuttle to grab their tools and get ready to exit. Sarah and Franklin turned their chairs around to their stations and got the computers prepared to receive data from the satellite. Down below, Travis fitted Eckers with his oxygen supply and cables.

"You take the bottom." He said. "I'll take the top. Don't forget to connect the data cables so Sarah and Franklin get into the system." Eckers saluted him playfully.

"You got it, Captain." He replied before turning for the exit. "We're ready, Rex."

"Alright." Rex replied. "Decompressing!" Rex used the controls to decompress the air pressure in the lower area and proceeded to lower the hatch for the exit. Travis took a deep breath before stepping off the shuttle and into outer space with Eckers following behind him.

Down on earth, Cynthia pushed a button on her headset to communicate with the crew up above.

"How's everything going up there?" She asked the team.

"Browne and Eckers just deployed." Maki replied. "They're about to start hooking us up to the satellite so we can get readings. You should be seeing stats in about five minutes or so."

"Wonderful. Keep up the good work." Ronda looked over at Cynthia.

"Can I speak to them?" She asked her. "Through a headset?" Cynthia nodded.

"We can patch you through." She responded. "Just remember that they're on a mission. Keep it short and simple." Ronda nodded in agreement. Cynthia then looked to one of the technicians sitting at the station near her. "Can you patch Station Four's communications to the shuttle for me?" The man nodded.

"Yes ma'am." He said before doing as he was asked. Ronda put the headset on.

"Hold the button on the speaker when you wanna talk." Cynthia told her. "Let it go when you're all done."

Inside the shuttle, Sarah was keeping a watchful eye waiting for the satellite readings to show when they heard Ronda chime in.

"How you guys doing up there?" They heard her ask. "Up there in space, huh?" Rex smirked.

"Your man's outside, L-T-C." He retorted. "You should see the view! His ass looks amazing in outer space!" Maki nudged him hard.

"Cut the bullshit, Rex!" Maki harped at the man.

"Yes, Maki-sama." He said, rolling his eyes. Franklin shook his head.

"Really, though." Maki said to Ronda. "We all wish you could see this view with us. It really is amazing up here." Rex then patched Ronda to Travis.

"Captain!" Rex said to Travis. "L-T-C says hi." The team captain perked to attention as he carefully ran the shuttle communication cables to the satellite.

"Babe." Travis said. "We were so right about the stars looking like diamonds up close. I wish you could be here to see this."

"You guys are up there." Ronda replied. "Tell me all about it when you get back home. Be safe up there, okay, Trav?" Travis smiled behind his helmet.

"See ya soon, Ronda. Love you." The team heard the speaker click off, letting them know Ronda had turned off her headset. Travis turned his attention back to the satellite's connections and plugged the wires into the proper ports. "I'm all done up here. How ya hanging, Eckers?"

"Connecting the cables now." Eckers replied from the other side of the satellite as he plugged in the cables. "Seeing anything, Sarah?" Inside the shuttle, Sarah saw the computer screen boot up with various diagnostics pertaining to the health of the satellite.

"Diagnostics are up and running." She said. "You guys make sure there's no hard damage and get back inside when you're all done. We'll look over the stats in here."

"You got it." Travis said. "Did you get that, Eckers?"

"I'm on it." Eckers replied as he proceeded to lengthen his tie so that he could scan his section of the satellite for physical damage. He managed to find a loose screw near where the receptor connected to the base and proceeded to tighten it. He then heard Franklin chime in.

"Guys." Franklin said. "We found something. Looks like some corrupted code. That's probably what caused it to go down. Sarah's gonna update it and run it again." Franklin then ran his communications back down to earth. "Greene here. We're connected to the satellite and we're sending the original diagnostics down to you. There was some corrupted code located in Line 387. We're fixing that and reviewing the satellite for physical repairs as we speak. We should be done here soon."

On earth, Cynthia was excited to hear the news from Franklin and awaited the diagnostics from the team. Baxter opened his communications to talk with the team.

"Good to hear, team." He said. "We'll get everything ready for your return." He ended the connection and looked to Cynthia whom was grabbing the diagnostics report off of the printer.

"Is that it?" Baxter asked her.

"It is." She replied as she skimmed through the papers before handing it to one of the technicians. "Can you file this in Theta's report section please?" The girl nodded.

"Yes, ma'am." She said before getting up from her seat to do as she was asked. Just then, another technician called out to Baxter.

"Sir." He said. "The heat reading for the shuttle is slowly rising." Baxter blinked then walked over to see what the young man was seeing.

"Are you sure?" He asked. The young man pointed to the number representing the temperature directly outside of the shuttle.

"Right here, sir. It normalized a few moments after the engine for the shuttle was shut down, but just recently began to rise again." Baxter saw the number rise (it seemed to rise one integer per second) and opened his connection with the team.

In space, Rex and Maki were checking the shuttle controls when Rex noticed that the shuttle's outside temperature had risen roughly three degrees centigrade.

"Hey, Maki?" He called out to his partner. "Are we supposed to getting hotter outside?"

"What do you mean?" Maki asked before looking over at the meter. She blinked at what she saw; Maki saw the temperature rise one degree. They all then heard Baxter chime in from down on earth.

"Is everything alright up there, Team?" He asked them. "We're getting some abnormal temperature readings from the perimeter up there." Maki blinked and checked all the controls along with Rex.

"We're seeing it, too, sir." Maki replied. "Everything seems to be going fine with the shuttle. No malfunctions."

"Hey, Frank." Rex called out to Franklin. "Can you run a full scan on the shuttle to make sure nothing's going on with the computer system?" Franklin nodded.

"I'm on it." He said before running the scan.

"I'm all done with the code." Sarah said to the team. "We just have to run it and make sure the satellite is functioning. Captain? How are you and Eckers doing out there?" Outside, Eckers had just finished tightening the screw he had found earlier.

"Just found a few loose screws on my end." Eckers replied. "Travis? You good?" Up above, Travis had found that one of the bolts that held the top of the base to the bottom of it had come loose and was in the process of replacing it.

"Yeah." He said to Eckers. "I'm finishing up replacing a bolt up here."

"I'm all done down here. I'm coming down to help you."

"No. I got this. You go inside."

"I can't leave you out here by yourself, Travis. I'll come up and help you."

"I'm fine, Jason. Just go back to the shuttle."

Baxter, the technician, and now Cynthia, were eying the temperature reading as it continued to rise. Cynthia shook her head.

"Something's wrong." Cynthia said. Ronda heard her and immediately began to worry.

"What do you mean something's wrong?" She asked with demand in her voice as she got up from her seat and approached the station where they stood. "What's going on up there?"

"Don't worry about it, Major General." Baxter retorted. "We've got everything under control. They'll all be back in one piece." Cynthia sighed.

"See this?" She said to Ronda as she pointed at the screen. "This is the temperature outside the shuttle. It shouldn't be this high with the shuttle's engines not running, so we're having them check the system to make sure nothing's malfunctioning." Before Cynthia could continue her explanation, another technician called them to their station.

"Our radar's picking something up." They said as the trio approached the station. "Look here." They looked on the radar and saw it pick up a mass that appeared to grow with passing sweep.

"What the hell is that?" Ronda asked. Baxter shook his head.

"Can you get a read on what it is?" Baxter asked the technician.

"No sir." He replied. "We're getting this info from Gamma and the connection isn't strong enough to give us detailed images. Whatever it is, it's huge." Without thinking, Ronda ran to the nearest empty station and put on a headset.

Inside the shuttle, the temperature meter showed that the temperature outside had begun to rise at a quicker rate. Neither Rex nor Maki knew why the heat was rising and the scan returned positive results from the shuttle's systems.

"Hurry up out there, will ya!?" Rex shouted. Travis winced at the man's voice ringing in his ear.

"I'm almost done, asshole!" Travis retorted.

"Travis." Maki called out. "Something's going on with the shuttle's temp reading. It's going haywire! Finish up and get inside. Both of you!" Travis thought about what he heard.

"Both of us? Eckers is already-" Before he could finish his statement, the wrench in his hand burned through his glove and singed his skin, causing him to instinctively let it go. He eyed the tool with both shock and skepticism as it floated away into the vast cosmos and that moment was when he saw it. Off in the distance was what appeared to be a massive blood red storm cloud that appeared to. Inside, the mass had sent the radars into a critical frenzy.

"What the hell's going on!?" Franklin asked aloud. The sounds had caused Sarah to begin to panic.

"Oh no! We're gonna die out here!" She shouted.

"Shut that shit up, Caracciolo!" Rex snapped back. Maki rushed to reach out to Travis whom was still outside.

"Travis!" She shouted. "Get inside! Now!" Outside, Travis headed back down to the shuttle. On his way, however, his cable got caught on a part of the satellite and caused him to stall. Travis yanked at the cord frantically as he felt the heat surround him. He then felt Eckers free him from his captured state.

"Eckers!" Travis shouted as the man approached him. "Why didn't you go back inside?"

"No time, Travis!" Eckers shouted back. "We need to get back in the shuttle!" Travis agreed.

"Open the hatch!" He shouted at his team inside. Rex immediately worked the controls to open the shuttle and allow his friends to reenter. Travis and Eckers safely boarded and made their way through the decontamination chamber to remove their gear. They finished and headed up to the deck where the rest of the team waited for them.

"Trav!" Franklin called out. That moment, the team heard Ronda over the malfunctioning intercom.

"Guys!" They heard Ronda shout. "Wh— is g—ng on u- -ere?" Her words began to break into pieces over the speakers. Travis ran to the controls for the intercom and saw the alert identifying a malfunction lit up. He pressed the manual reset button.

"Ronda!?" He shouted. "Ronda!?" The shuttle then mysteriously powered down, leaving the team in darkness. They all looked around as the roar of the shuttle losing power filled the air.

"Strap up, everyone!" Travis instructed, telling his team to tighten their uniforms and helmets to prepare for the lowering oxygen. "Make sure your oxygen tanks are on emergency mode!" Down on Earth, neither Ronda nor anyone else heard anything from the team.

"Communications for the shuttle are down." One technician said aloud. "We can't identify them anywhere on the radars." Their words caused Ronda to panic. That moment, General Zodrick, along with the US President and several bodyguards, rushed into the room.

"What the hell is going on?" He shouted. "I can hear alarms going off from all the way outside. People are asking questions."

"General." Baxter said. "We lost communications with Shuttle 010. We fear they may be in trouble out there." Zodrick cursed aloud.

"Send someone up there now!" Ronda shouted. "Get them back!" Zodrick approached her calmly.

"It's not that easy, Rousey." He said to her. "We can't just send someone up into space. We need time to prepare."

"He's right." Cynthia agreed. "The next available team we have will take no sooner than two weeks to prepare for that mission, but we will get them back down here safely."

"No." Ronda retorted. "I'm not accepting that. It only took you two days to prepare them to go up there to repair the satellite! You can do it if you really want to! I'll go up there myself if I have to, but they're coming back down here!" The President then thought to himself before stepping up to Ronda.

"I commend your dedication to your loved ones, Major General." He said. "However, I believe we do, in fact, have a team ready to rescue our men and women up there." Zodrick skeptically looked at the President.

"Who'd be ready and willing to take up a mission like this?" He asked.

* * *

John Cena and Nikki Bella's wedding went off without a distraction. It was a beautiful ceremony their friends and they shared together. The reception had begun sometime after the celebration ended, everyone talking amongst each other and catching up with each other as it had been some time since some of them had been together. Triple H and Stephanie spent time mingling with everyone and making sure they were all engaged in some form of enjoyable conversation. Triple H then noticed that Cesaro had chosen to sit at a table further away from everyone else. He turned to Stephanie as she conversed with Shane.

"I'm gonna check on Claudio." He said to Stephanie.

"He's fine, Paul." Shane replied after hearing the statement. "He's probably just exhausted like the rest of us." Triple H looked at Stephanie to see her raise her eyebrows as if she agreed with Shane. The man sighed.

"I guess it has been a long week." Triple H said. "I'm glad it's about over." That moment, the trio saw Bayley, Noam and Sasha approach them with Bayley holding her phone out.

"We're taking pictures for my vlog!" Bayley said to them. "Can we take a picture together?"

"We promise it'll be quick." Noam added in an attempt to sway the odds in their favor. Shane nodded.

"Sure." He said. "Why not?" They all positioned themselves so they could all be seen in the picture.

"Say cheese, everybody!" Bayley said. The moment she took the photo, Mojo Rawley jumped into the frame and photobombed the picture.

"Dean!" Sasha shouted before slapping the man on his shoulder. "You're an ass! You already got tons of pictures Bayley's vlog!"

"Who would I be if I didn't photobomb y'all?" Mojo asked.

"Less of an ass, probably." Stephanie raised her hands.

"Alright, alright." She said. "It still turned out great." Shane then felt his phone ring in his pocket and started for the mansion. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Just gotta catch this phone call." Shane replied. With that, Shane carefully made his exit. Stephanie noticed that her husband furrowed his brow. Bayley then spoke up gleefully.

"Let's go get a photo with John and Nikki!" She all but dragged Noam and Sasha over to the table where John and Nikki sat with Brie and Daniel.

"Nikki!" Bayley yelped. "You're so pretty! Let's take a picture for my vlog! You, too, John." Nikki laughed.

"Oh my god!" She said. "Seriously?" She then stepped from behind the table. "Hell yeah! Let's get a picture! Come on, guys!" John playfully rolled his eyes and nudged Daniel before following behind his wife in joining their friends. Inside, Shane answered his phone as he made his way upstairs.

"Yes sir, Mister President?" Shane answered.

"Shane." The President said on the other line. "I know today is a busy day for you all, but we have an emergency and we need your assistance. Will you be able to meet with General Zodrick for a briefing?" Shane blinked as he thought about what the emergency could be as the President usually opted for Zodrick to call and only called when it was critical.

"Absolutely." He responded. "I'll get Stephanie and we will meet wherever you need us to."

* * *

"Thank you both, Shane, but there is no need to travel. I'll have Zodrick meet with you there. He will brief you on the situation."

"Yes sir. We'll be there." The President ended his call with Shane and put his phone back in his pocket. He then looked at Baxter.

"How soon can you have a shuttle prepared for take-off and staff ready to prepare a team?" The President asked. Baxter furrowed his brow as he thought.

"As soon as tomorrow if we move forward with the order, sir." He answered.

"Go ahead and ready a pilot please. We will have a team ready to send up." Baxter nodded. Zodrick and Ronda looked at their Commander in Chief.

"Sir." Zodrick started as he gathered his thoughts about a way to ask the President how he was certain Shane and Stephanie would accept the calling. "What if I can't convince them to accept the rescue mission?"

"I simply need you to tell them what's going on and what we need from them." The President responded. "They will accept. Shane won't let me down." Zodrick nodded. "I'll have transportation waiting for you out front. Brief them on the mission and make sure they get here tomorrow morning first thing."

"Yes sir." The President then spoke to Ronda whom was visibly distraught about her husband and friends.

"I want you to go with Zodrick." He said to her. "And don't worry. They'll bring them home safely." Ronda straightened herself and saluted the man.

"Yes sir!" She said quickly. "Thank you." The President then turned to face the workers in the room.

"Thank you all for your hard work." He said to them. "We will make certain this mission is a success. Continue giving this your best." The President extended his hand to Baxter and to Cynthia before leaving the room with his bodyguards. Zodrick looked at Baxter and Cynthia.

"We'll be in touch.' He said. "Let us know as soon as the shuttle is ready."

"Yes sir." Baxter said before turning towards his office. "I'll make the call now."

"Thank you." With that, Zodrick and Ronda stepped out of the room and began down the hallway. The two did not speak until they made it to the transport provided to them by the President to head to meet with Shane. The guards let the two into the vehicle and signaled to the driver to drive off. Inside, Ronda spoke first.

"I'm sorry for lashing out back there." She said with slight shame. "I shouldn't have done that." Zodrick sighed.

"Don't apologize, Rousey." He said to her. "Apologies fix nothing. Actions do. I know you're concerned about your family, but remember your rank and where you are now. You have to think carefully about what you say and do." Ronda nodded.

"Yes sir."

"Don't worry about it. They don't call you 'Rowdy Rousey' for nothing after all. I know you're a hot head. Just dial it back a bit so you don't terrify everyone. Alright?"

"Yes sir." Ronda then sighed.

"They're coming home." Zodrick said to her, knowing why the sigh came about.

"I'm sure, Sir." Ronda replied. "That won't stop me from worrying, though. Who are these people we're going to see?"

"Shane and Stephanie McMahon." Ronda recognized the two names as the co-owners of the WWE.

"Are they the superheroes that saved us from that earthquake?" She asked.

"That's them." Zodrick said. "I'm assuming that's why the President feels they'll accept the mission." Ronda nodded but could not shake her tension.

"I understand that." She said. "I just hope they agree to help. Do we have a backup team just in case?"

"We have a team on standby. Now relax." Usually, Ronda thoroughly disliked being told to relax, but because of who advised her, she held her tongue for a moment before speaking.

"Yes sir." She said simply as she clutched the folder she held in her hand. Zodrick nodded.

"Don't worry. We're almost there."

* * *

Shane had been sitting inside the mansion upstairs after his call with the President ended to avoid being seen by the departing guests. Thoughts of what exactly the President spoke about and, most importantly, how he would tell his sister about the approaching General. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he failed to notice that Stephanie and Triple H were standing in the doorway until he heard Stephanie's voice call out to him.

"Shane?" She said. Shane looked up at the two.

"Oh, hey." Shane replied. "Has everyone left yet?"

"Not yet. Everyone's saying goodbye before they leave." Stephanie then noticed the troubled look Shane tried to hide from her. "Are you okay?" Shane nodded his head.

"I'm good." He replied. "It's just…" He hesitated a bit before continuing. "That was the President who called."

"I figured that's who it was that pulled you away from us again." Triple H replied with slight disdain. Stephanie gently grabbed his arm.

"Paul, don't." She said to him before looking to her brother. "What did he want?"

"He didn't say." Shane responded. "He's sending Zodrick. He should be here soon." Stephanie blinked.

"Soon as in today?" She asked.

"Yes. Soon as in today."

"We've just started wrapping up the wedding, Shane. You couldn't find out if whatever it is he needs is urgent?"

"I didn't think about that. I just said we'd meet with Zodrick for a briefing." Triple H furrowed his brow at the last word.

"Briefing, huh?" He said to Shane. "Sounds to me like you've already decided for us."

"I didn't say we'd accept anything, Paul." Shane retorted. "I told him we'd listen to what he had to say and then make our decision." Before Shane and Triple H's argument could go further, the trio were interrupted by Noam whom had ran upstairs to share news with them.

"Mister and Misses McMahon!" Noam yelped. "The General is here for you!" They watched Noam run back downstairs and then looked at each other. Triple H eyed Shane but before he could say anything, Stephanie spoke up.

"Let's not jump too far." She said. "We'll go down there and find out what this is about, okay?" With that, the trio made their way downstairs and found nearly all their peers staring at the stairs. Zodrick then spoke to them.

"Shane, Stephanie, Paul." He said. "We're here with word from the President."

"We've heard." Triple H responded. "We can talk upstairs in the main office. Come on up." Zodrick and Ronda followed the trio upstairs, leaving everyone else downstairs to themselves. Paige spoke first.

"So anybody know what's got them here?" She asked. "They're kinda late for the wedding."

"If they wanted to send happy vibes for your wedding," Naomi replied. "Then they'd have been here for it." Randy shrugged.

"She's got a point." He said. "If they're not here to wish you guys well, then what are they here for?" Kevin Owens had an idea about why Zodrick and Ronda came to see Shane and Stephanie.

"They're probably here to send you guys off on another one of those damned 'emergency rescue missions' they depend on so much." He exclaimed.

"Don't put that shit in the air, man!" Seth immediately retorted.

"Yeah." Big E added. "We don't need that kind of energy on John and Nikki's wedding day! We need some joy, some happiness!"

"Alright, guys." Cesaro stepped in. "Let's just hold tight and wait to hear what they tell us. It could very well be something else."

"We could have someone listen in the conversation." Charlotte suggested as she looked over at Cesaro then to Lana and Sami. "You know. Telepathically."

"I'm not ease dropping on their conversation, Ashley." Lana responded. "Not only is that rude but they'll find out someone's listening. They're the strongest telepaths on the planet."

"Yeah." Sami added. "They probably know you're scheming to listen in."

"Anybody else got anymore bright ideas?" Mojo asked. No one responded. "Then let's do what Claudio said and just stand by until they get back with us about it."

Upstairs, the group made it to the main office and Triple H closed the door behind him.

"Thank you for meeting us on such short notice." Zodrick began before introducing Ronda to them. "This is Major General Ronda Rousey. She'll be joining us here if you don't mind." Stephanie shook her head.

"Not at all." She said before reaching out her hand. "Pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Major General Rowdy Rousey." Ronda shook her hand.

"Please." She said. "You guys are constantly looking out for us. You can certainly call me Ronda."

"Okay, Ronda." Triple H said. "Wanna tell us what you and Zodrick are doing here or do we already know?" Ronda looked down at her feet, Triple H's abrasive mood throwing her off of her mindset. Zodrick chose to take over.

"We sent a repair team to repair one of the communication satellites that connects your facilities directly to us." He told them. "However, the shuttle malfunctioned during the mission and their communications were compromised. We have no way of reaching them or even knowing if they're alive."

"You have records of the shuttle's last location, right?" Triple H asked.

"Of course." Zodrick replied.

"Why not send one of your recovery teams out to retrieve the shuttle and passengers? Isn't that what you train them for?"

"The next team will need several days to prepare. The President believes that we may not have that amount of time to wait." Shane's eyes widened as he realized what it was the President was asking of them.

"Zodrick." He said. Zodrick stopped her before she could continue.

"The President… is requesting your assistance in the retrieval of the repair team. He believes that you and your team are best suited for the success of this emergency mission." Triple H blinked.

"You want us to take our guys and gals…" He started. "Mind you, the very same guys and gals who have neither been into outer space nor have been properly trained to go into outer space… into outer space?"

"Yes, Paul." Zodrick answered. "We trust that all of your powers will be more than enough." Stephanie ran her hand through her hair and began to pace.

"We need time to think about this." She said. Ronda stepped in.

"Respect where due, Stephanie." She started. "We simply don't have time to think."

"Good." Triple H said with a hint of anger. "Because the answer is no. We cannot risk our lives going into space when you have trained workers to do that for you." Shane then spoke up.

"Paul." He simply said, making Triple H and Stephanie look over at him. "We can save them." Stephanie furrowed her brow.

"Shane." She said. "I can't agree with that. Even if there's a chance we can rescue that team we cannot go into this blind." Triple H visibly huffed.

"Are you both seriously considering this?" He snapped back as he tried to grasp what he heard. "This is crazy. Regardless of what our powers are, we're not astronauts! You all are trained to handle emergencies just like this one and you have trained employees to deploy to execute rescue missions. You can't stand here and tell me the President has no other emergency protocol in place other than simply asking us to help. What happens if we say no, Zodrick? Is your repair team stranded up there in a downed shuttle you put them in?" Ronda had had enough of Triple H's poor demeanor. Her military breeding kicked into full gear as she stood toe to toe with the much larger man.

"Look." She said to Triple H sternly. "We came here because we WANT your help, but trust and believe we don't NEED your help! You're absolutely right. We do have plenty of people fit for the task, but our Commander in Chief trusts your talents, he trusts your teamwork and your comradery. He wants your help, but let me make this very clear. Don't mistake us bowing out as a sign of weakness or incapability. If I need to go up there and save my husband by myself then I will without hesitation!"

"Rousey!" Zodrick snapped at her, causing her to stop in her tracks. "Stand down. That's enough. We didn't come here to argue." Ronda took a deep breath. Triple H stared a hole into her before looking back at Shane and Stephanie and walking out of the office.

"Paul." Stephanie called out but to no avail. Her husband made his way out and left them to themselves. Stephanie sighed as the room filled with moments of silence until Shane finally spoke on the matter.

"We'll get a team together for an extraction mission." Shane said.

"We will have everything you will need to travel." Zodrick told him. "A shuttle pilot is on stand-by for you tomorrow morning."

"We'll be there." Ronda looked over at Shane.

"I apologize for my outburst." She said. "I just want my husband and my friends to come home. I was one of the people you guys saved from that earthquake in San Francisco months ago, so I know you can do it. I've seen you all work. I… I know you won't let us down." Stephanie felt apathetic towards Ronda and sympathized with her willingness to put herself in harm's way for the man she clearly loved dearly. Stephanie placed her hand on Ronda's shoulder.

"We'll get them home." She said to hear. "You have our word."


	5. Sacrifice

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to upload. Enjoy!**

After the wedding festivities abruptly ended, Paige made her way back home on a flight back to England. Upon returning, she was greeted by her mother and father.

"Saraya!" Ricky said as he hugged her tight. "Why are you back so soon? We weren't expecting you home for another few days." Julia slapped Ricky on his arm.

"Hush that!" She said to him before looking to her daughter. "How was the wedding, darling? We saw Pamela's pictures on her page."

"It was great, Mum." Paige replied. "I'm back because they got another mission and had to end the festivities early." Ricky shook his head.

"On John and Nicole's wedding day?" He said. "That's bloody awful if you ask me."

"We'll thank the heavens no one did." Julia said to him.

"Actually, Mum." Paige said. "Dad's right this time. Normally it wouldn't really matter to me what missions they do since I'm here now, but this was supposed to be about John and Nikki finally tying the knot and celebrating that. They're not supposed to be going on some secret mission today."

"Exactly, love." Ricky said to Julia. "Imagine if something like that interrupted our wedding and we had to cut it short. How'd you think you'd feel?" Before Julia could answer him, a bald, muscular man slowly opened the main entrance door; the slight creak of the doors opening caused the trio to look in that direction.

"Simon." Paige greeted the man known as Simon almost instinctively. Simon quickly noticed the tension in the air.

"Did I come at a bad time?" He asked.

"No, darling!" Julia said before grabbing Simon's arm. "Come in, come in. Have a seat! We were just about to put lunch on the table." Ricky looked over at Paige before the two decided to follow Julia and Simon to the kitchen.

"I thought you were going to the wedding." Simon said to Paige.

"I did." She replied. "I got cut short by another mission?" Simon perked.

"No kidding? What's it this time?"

"Pretty damn important, I'm assuming, since they didn't tell them any details. They just said it was a rescue mission sent by the US President." Simon then pointed to the sky while thinking about something he saw.

"You know." He started. "Maybe it's got something to do with the whole stranded space shuttle thing going on over there." Paige eyed him curiously.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Yes, Miller." Ricky added. "Care to elaborate."

"Well," Simon started in a low voice. "You all know about that shuttle the US Gov sent to take care of that satellite?" The trio nodded. "Well, one of my good fellow reporters over there that was covering that story found out that the mission wasn't successful and that the team got stuck out there in outer space." All their eyes widen at the revelation.

"Are you serious?" Julia asked Simon.

"As death, I am." He replied.

"That's confidential information, probably!" Paige harped. "How the hell did they get a hold of that?"

"We're journalists. We get paid to get the story. Besides, that's not confidential. They're probably just looking for a less damaging way to word it before they put it out to the public. We'll all probably hear about it soon."

"So they're sending them into space?" Ricky asked.

"We don't know that for sure." Julia retorted.

"What else could it be, Mum?" Paige asked. "They've been given details for every other mission they've had, including the massive plant fire in Washington they asked me to help with. Why wouldn't they have details about this mission unless the Government wasn't sure how to tell them without saying too much too soon?" Once again, Julia was rendered silent. "You know Dad's right, Mum. They're sending them up into space." Simon, whom had been listening to the radio playing in the background, noticed that the news had begun talking about the shuttle incident just as he predicted.

"Guys!" He said. "Listen! They're talking about it now!" They all began to listen to the radio discussion.

"…While we don't have all the details, we do know that the team of Alpha Humans is set to depart later on this evening. We will keep you all informed should any more details surface." The reporter began to talk about local news. Julia, Ricky, and Paige then saw Simon stand to his feet.

"You running off already?" Julia said. "You haven't even finished your food."

"Save it for me, Miss Julia." Simon said. "I gotta head to America now! I can't miss this chance to speak with them again!"

"Wait, Simon!" Paige reached out. "I can get you to the mansion instead. You've been saying you needed to go there anyway, right?" Simon shut his eyes and sighed.

"I'm getting better at controlling it now." He said. "I only shorted out some street lights on my way here."

"Meaning you in a plane is going to be a disaster." Paige stood up.

"Saraya, honey." Julia said. "You just got here. You can't leave already."

"Let her go, Julia." Ricky said. Paige then looked at her mother.

"I promise I'll be back home soon, okay?" She said to her. "Look. I even finished up the pie."

"Okay, okay." Julia said. "Get going then. Both of you be safe!"

"Love you, Mum." Paige replied.

"Yeah." Simon said. "Love you, Mum." Ricky waved the two off.

"Get outta here!" He yelled. "You'll your 'mum' in a fuss!" Paige laughed.

"Love you, too, Dad." She said before walking out with Simon. Julia looked at Ricky the man throwing his hands up in confusion.

"What?" he said. "Too much?"

"I'm just worried about Saraya, Ricky." Julia replied. "I don't want her getting mixed in all that political jumbo over there."

"She's a grown woman. She can take care of herself."

"I still worry about her, Ricky. Simon, too. He's a good kid, but he'll throw himself off a cliff and over a fire just to get a story. He's gonna get himself killed."

"You really worry yourself far too much, love." Ricky offered her his glass of tea. "You need a vacation."

* * *

The downed space shuttle had gone dark some time ago and the repair team had been trying to maintain their composure as they worked to restore the communications enough to send a distress signal down to the launch site. Sarah had been working with Franklin and Maki on the shuttle's programming while Travis, Eckers, and Rex worked on keeping the shuttle itself together. Travis had just finished bolting a piece of the interior back in place when he turned to Rex.

"Hey Rex." He said. "You and Eckers stay up here and finish the patchwork. We're almost done. I'm going to go check the lower deck to see how bad it is."

"Let one of us come with, Trav." Rex suggested. "Just in case you get in a jam or something."

"I'll be fine, Rex. Stay up here." Travis then made his exit, leaving his crew in the upper section to continue working on the shuttle interior. As Sarah worked, she could not help the thought crossing her mind.

"Guys." She said to her friends. "You think someone's actually coming for us?"

"Come on, Sarah." Eckers answered. "Of course they sent someone after us. They know we're stranded out here. We just gotta hold out until help arrives." Sarah absorbed Eckers' words of encouragement.

"I hope you're right, Eckers." She said before pressing a button on her tablet. "Frankie, how's the code looking? Anything yet?"

"Nah." He said. "It still won't run without the motherboard even with all the backdoors added in."

"I'll figure something else out. Just keep trying to alternate the backdoors for combinations and run the restart code, okay? If we can at least get the distress signal working then maybe we can help Headquarters with our location."

"Sure thing, Sarah." Franklin said before doing as he was told.

"You've been strung out on this code for hours, Caracciolo." Rex said as he tightened a bolt on some of the steel frame. "What happened? You good?"

"Honestly." Sarah said. "I don't think anyone is coming for us, but if there's a chance they will come then I'm gonna do my best to stay positive so I don't fall apart thinking about the negative stuff." Before Sarah could divulge any more, the team heard Travis come back from the lower level.

"Guys." He said to them. "It's not looking too rough down there, but there's a bit of debris. I'm gonna use some of it to patch up a few holes and we should be fine."

"Debris?" Rex asked. "From the ship? Let us help you down there so you don't get hurt."

"No, Rex." Travis insisted. "You guys keep things together up here. I'll be fine down there. It's not a lot. I'll be right back." The captain headed back down to the lower level to begin patching it up. What he did not tell his crew, however, was that the lower levels had more damage than expected and there were holes and dangerous debris all over the place. Instead of endangering his crew knowing there was no saving that area of the ship, Travis chose to work on patching up major holes so that the ship would survive a while longer.

* * *

The morning after John and Nikki Cena's wedding came quickly as the sun rose over the launch site. Shane and Stephanie arrived to the site early to speak with the President, Baxter, and Cynthia about the details of the mission. That moment, the five of them along with the two shuttle pilots stood waiting for the group of chosen Superstars to emerge so that they could give one final briefing before the launch. Not even a minute later, the group of John and Nikki Cena, Sasha Banks, Noam Dar, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn and Cesaro made their way into the area. All of them wore their uniforms aside minus their helmets which were due to be fitted on them right before they boarded the shuttle. They all also wore a look of curiosity as they still had not been given the details about their mission. All they were told by Shane before they left was that their powers were needed for a rescue mission. As they approached the others, the President began to speak.

"On behalf of all of us," He began. "We wish to thank you for once again answering our call and coming to our aid in our time of need. I want to personally wish you all the best and I trust your success is guaranteed." The Commander in Chief nodded at the group before taking his leave with his bodyguards. Baxter then took over to explain the mission.

"This is a simple extraction mission." He began. "Your main focus is to get all of the passengers on board your shuttle and back home. Their shuttle is likely a lost cause. Safe return is most important." He then turned to the pilot, a blonde haired and blue eyed woman who appeared to be bred from the cloth of a military service member. "This is your pilot. Macey Estrella. She will be in direct control of the shuttle during your mission. The coordinates are already set. Any questions?"

"Yeah, actually." Noam spoke up. "Like, a thousand."

"We don't have time for a thousand." Shane replied, his hasty remark causing Stephanie to look over at him. "You're getting in, saving them, and coming home." Seth nodded.

"So we're actually doing space missions now." He said. "Neat." John sighed.

"How long do we have?" He asked Baxter.

"We aren't sure." He replied. "Try and get them out as quick as possible."

"What if we can't get to them?" Sasha asked.

"You can." Shane said. "I know you can if you work together." The five Superstars looked at each other.

"You guys ready?" Macey asked them before saying, "Y'all come with me." And making her way towards the area to be fitted with the rest of her equipment, all without allowing the team to answer her initial question.

"We'll be your contact up there." Baxter said to them. "Your suits are fitted with connections the shuttle will use to help you communicate with us down here." Baxter left the area to go to his station.

"Good luck." Cynthia said to them before following behind Baxter. Nikki then shook her head and sighed.

"I guess this is it." She said. "We're doing this."

"Remember." Shane said. "In and out. You'll be home before you know it." The man left to join the others in the control room and the Superstars headed towards the fitting area. All except for Cesaro whom stopped and turned back to see Stephanie seeing them off. She looked at him and he noticed the worried look on her face.

"Stephanie." He said. "I have to ask. Are you okay with all this?" She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I don't think I need to answer that one for you." She replied to him.

"No. You don't. It's all over your face, but I wanted to be certain." She pursed her lips together, making Cesaro eye her with a look of consolation. "Listen, Stephanie. If you say it's okay… then it's okay." Stephanie walked up to Cesaro and placed her hands on his arms.

"I already talked to Macey." She told him. "If anything goes wrong, she's turning around." She then nodded. "It's okay." Cesaro nodded then turned to join the others. Stephanie blinked before making her way to the control room.

Outside the launch site in the accessible area, reporters and news broadcasters had gathered around a massive podium eagerly awaited the President's arrival to address the launching of the Alpha Humans into space to rescue the crew members. Moments later, they all saw a bodyguard approach the podium and began to speak into microphone.

"Our president is approaching." He said. "Please hold all questions until the President has concluded his address. He will answer your questions at his own discretion." The man stepped down and then the President made his way up to the podium. The man adjusted his blazer then began to speak into the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen." The President began. "Yesterday, we deployed a space shuttle up to repair one of our communication satellites. Later that day, we lost communication with the team on that shuttle. We are working with the WWE and their remarkable team of Alpha Humans today to return our team back to us. We will have our communications are expecting their safe arrival this time tomorrow. We ask all of the news stations to please allow our broadcasters access to your network and news feeds so that we may show our viewers our efforts to maintain peace, unity and safety. Thank you." The President stepped down from the podium and the flood of reporters began asking questions of him as his bodyguards surrounded him to lead him to his vehicle, but the man opted to ignore all of their questions before taking his leave.

Inside the control room of the launch site, Baxter approached one of the techs.

"Can you get us a feed into the decontamination room?" He asked the man.

"Absolutely, sir." The tech replied as he patched a feed into the decontamination room and onto the main screen for everyone to see. In the room, everyone had been fitted into their suits and were waiting to board the shuttle. As they were escorted through, Seth looked around at the entry way, a massive tube much like one would see inside of a science fiction movie.

"Wow." He said. "I guess we can all mark space travel off of our bucket lists, huh?"

"This wasn't even on mine." Nikki responded as she, too, looked around in awe.

"Guys." Macey spoke up. "Remember what we're going up here for. We're getting in and getting out, okay? Won't be no time for sightseeing once we're out there." Their escorts then stopped at the end of the tube and the door of the shuttle. Then, Macey spoke again. "Alright. They're gonna let us inside. Everybody's going to the left once you walk in. You're gonna take a seat and strap in. I'm gonna be readying the shuttle for launch about a minute after we get in and it's gonna go vertical so you'll need to be secured in. You're gonna snap your oxygen supply cables into the side of the seat and buckle your safety harnesses. I'll call for the 'All Clear' and once you all say you're locked in, we're starting the launch. Got it?" Everyone listening nodded in agreement. "Good." Macey then looked to the escorts. "We're good to go." They opened the shuttle door for them to enter and they all did as they were instructed. They all took their seats. Noam looked out of the window and saw the launch site and the open air outside.

"Wow." He said in his thick Scottish accent. "I don't believe this."

"Well," Macey said. "Believe it, kiddo. Everybody strapped in?"

"Yeah." John answered. "We think so." Macey then got up out of her seat and went around to check everyone's connections making certain they were fastened properly. Afterwards, she turned back to sit in her seat.

"Alright." She said. "I'm putting the All-Go out now. We're about to start the launch." Macey pressed a button on the massive dashboard. "Mission Control, this is Captain Estrella of the Starlight. We're all good and ready to begin the launch sequence." Static flashed over the intercom and Cynthia spoke through on the other side of the line.

"Mission Control to Starlight." She said. "All systems are a go. Beginning launch sequence in T minus five. God speed." Macey nodded and took a deep breath.

"That means five minutes." Seth explained aloud. "I heard that on TV once."

"So good that you know that, Colby." Sasha said sarcastically.

"Hey. I just thought everybody should know that." John shook his head. Macey then thought to herself before speaking.

"You know." She began. "I've always wanted to be a wrestler. I used to watch a bit of WWE while I was in the marines back when it was the WWF. I enjoyed it and wanted to give it a try, but I never really gave a lot of thought until recently when I became a shuttle pilot."

"How long were you in the marines, Macey?" Cesaro asked her.

"Five years." Macey answered. "Long enough to go through college so that I'd have a little bit of a head start in flight school. Three years after that, I got picked up by NASA as a trainee. Four years after that, here I am taking you up to space."

"You'd definitely make it in the wrestling business then, Macey." Sasha said to her. "You should give it a try. I'd be glad to train with you sometime when I actually have time to train." Macey smiled to herself.

"I think I will. I always say that you gotta live reckless and put your body on the line to make it worth the effort." Before Macey could continue, they all heard the intercom go off.

"Sixty seconds until countdown begins." Cynthia said over the intercom. "Readying shuttle repositioning." Macey took to her controls.

"Sorry." She said as she began flipping several control switches. "Story time's over, loves. Time to save these fools." Macey pressed the response button.

"Readying the main thrusters." She said. She then turned to her team. "Visors down, guys. We're getting ready to take off." Macey pressed the button on the side of her helmet and lowered the helmet's visor, the others following suit. The pilot then pulled the lever next to her downwards. Everyone heard the shuttle engine begin to prime itself and felt it shift from a horizontal plane to a vertical plane. "Shifting the shuttle and firing engine."

"Countdown." Cynthia said. "Launch in T minus 10… 9… 8… 7…"

"Holy shit!" Nikki shouted. "I'm not ready!"

"We're going to SPACE!" Seth shouted.

"5… 4… " The shuttle began to rumble under the engine's power. "3… 2… 1… Taking off." Macey pressed the red glowing button in front of her and the shuttle roared loud as it launched into the air. Everyone held on tight as it continued its rocky journey.

"Woo!" Sami yelped, making everyone in the cabin jump in their seats.

"Hey!" Macey shouted. "Relax back there! We haven't even made it out the atmosphere yet and you're already going haywire!" Macey then shook her head and turned back towards the window to see that the shuttle had finally reached the edge of the atmosphere. She turned a knob on the control panel then pressed a button several moments later to release the auxiliary thrusters into space. Macey looked out into the cosmos and marveled at the sight. Although it was her third time in outer space (the previous two times being training missions), its majesty still took her breath away.

"I wish I had my phone…" Sasha said aloud as they all looked to the stars. Nikki marveled at the sight she would have never imagined she'd see.

"It looks so… endless." She said.

"We're set to arrive at the shuttle in about four minutes." Macey said. "Not sure what we'll see when we get there, but get yourselves ready to make it a quick rescue, okay?"

"Right." John responded. "Mercedes. Once we get to the shuttle, we'll need you to take Colby inside. He can get all the crew members to you. You guys teleport back here and that's the end of that. We adjust depending on the situation when we see it, but I think that's a good foundation. Sound like a good plan?"

"Sounds good to me." Seth said.

"Agreed." Sasha added. Macey then pressed the communication button to send a signal back down to the control center on Earth.

"Mission Control, this is Starlight." The station heard Macey say. "We're on course and set to arrive in three and a half minutes."

"Good to hear, Starlight." Baxter responded. "Any sight of the shuttle?"

"Not yet. We'll broadcast what we see when we-" They all heard Macey stop speaking.

"Starlight? Everything alright up there?"

"Recall my last statement, Mission Control." Macey said as she pressed a few buttons. "We have sight of the shuttle. Broadcasting the image now." She sent the camera feed from their shuttle down to the control center. Everyone inside looked on with wide eyes as they saw the downed shuttle surrounded by several pieces of debris that came from it. What drew the most confusion was the entity that seemed to hover several miles away from the shuttle; it was the same electric mass of red and yellow clouds that the repair team saw before they had gone off the grid.

"What the hell is that thing?" Nikki asked aloud. "Is that… a solar flare?"

"Don't know." Macey said. "But if we're gonna get those guys outta there then we need to get them quick. Whatever that is has a crazy heat signature. The closer we're getting to it, the higher that signature."

"Mercedes." John called out. "Can you get in there?"

"Not yet." She said. "I need to get closer so I can see inside."

"How close can you get us, Macey?" Sami asked the pilot.

"Another mile." Macey replied. "Just make it quick, guys!" Seth unhooked himself and got up out of his seat, Sasha doing the same.

"You ready?" Seth asked Sasha.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She replied as she grabbed Seth's hand.

"I'm as close as I can get!" Macey said to them. "Hurry!" With that, Seth and Sasha closed their eyes and disappeared in a mass of magenta energy. The two Alpha Humans then found themselves in the cockpit of the downed shuttle surrounded by sirens and alarms. Just in front of them, the group of Sarah, Franklin, Eckers, Rex, and Maki were all strapped into their seats and outside the window several miles away was the menacing cosmic mass. Seth looked at Sasha and nodded. Sasha then prepared herself to teleport back to their shuttle and Seth used his inhuman speed to unhook the crew, carefully push them all backwards towards Sasha, and connecting all their hands onto her arm before grabbing her himself. He closed his eyes and in a blink, Sasha teleported all of them from the fallen craft onto their shuttle. Macey sighed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness!" Macey said. "Everybody strap in!" Macey then pressed the communication button to talk with the Control Center.

"We got em!" Everyone in the control center heard Macey say. "We're coming home!" Everyone in the room began to cheer the successful rescue. In the shuttle, the repair team strapped into their seats but then noticed their captain was nowhere to be found.

"Wait!" Maki said pointing back towards their old shuttle. "Our captain. He's still on the shuttle!"

"What!?" Sami shouted.

"He was on the lower levels patching holes!" Rex told them.

"The heat's rising, y'all!" Everyone in the control Center heard Macey say. "We gotta get out of here!" Shane and Stephanie looked at each other with saddened expressions. Ronda, distraught over the news, ran for the intercom and began shouting into it.

"Don't leave him!" She shouted through the intercom at Macey. "Go back in and get him! Now!"

"If we stay here any longer, we risk none of us making it back! We need to go! I'm sorry." Shane looked at a defeated Ronda and then ran for the intercom.

"No!" He said. "We're not leaving anyone behind!" Stephanie looked at him with wide eyes.

"Shane!" She said.

"Claudio can help!" Cesaro drew a look of concern on his face upon hearing his name. "He can hold the ship together while Mercedes grabs the captain."

"We are not risking all their lives for one person, Shane!" They all heard Stephanie say.

"Claudio!" They heard Shane call out in his mind. "I know you can do this. You can do anything you put your mind to. You can save him." Cesaro felt a reassuring feeling within him attempt to ease his nerves. He then felt everyone's eyes fix onto him and knew what his decision was meant to be.

"I'll do it." He said. "But I can't do it from here. I need to be inside the shuttle."

"You guys are the dumbest people I've ever come across!" Macey shouted. "Twenty seconds! That's all ya got! Get out there!" Sasha quickly grabbed Cesaro and teleported back into the cockpit of the crumbling shuttle. Its confines were rapidly disintegrating around them and they knew they had mere seconds to find the captain and get themselves out. Cesaro removed his helmet and used his powers to shield himself from the outer environment. Sasha saw him reach out to the ship and use his mind to pull it back together, taking that as a sign to proceed to the lower level to retrieve the last crew member. She closed her eyes and teleported down below, but was nearly crushed by debris. She reactively teleported in front of it only to be confronted by more debris. Sasha skillfully dodged the moving pieces and found Travis working on a piece of patchwork. She teleported to the man and grabbed his arm, causing him to look back at her. Back inside the rescue shuttle, everyone waited anxiously for their friends to return as alarms began to sound inside the cabin due to the heat signature reaching critical levels.

"Damn it." Macey cursed. "Ten seconds. 9… 8…"

Cesaro eyed the approaching cosmic mass as he used as much of his power as he could to continue to fight the heat and hold the ship in place. "7… 6… 5… 4… " Sasha and Travis teleported behind Cesaro and Sasha reached out to grab him... "3… 2… 1… " … but before she could, the mass had reached the shuttle, setting it ablaze and running through Cesaro.

"Nooo!" Sasha shouted as it threatened to engulf her and Travis. She then felt the force of the entity push her away and instinctively she teleported the two of them back into the shuttle, their bodies hitting the back of the cabin bay after making it just before the entity burned them alive. Sasha snapped her eyes opened, saw her friends, and gasped for air as if the wind had been knocked out of her.

"Mercedes?" Sami said. "Where's Claudio?" John looked around and saw no sign of the man.

"Where is he, Mercedes?" He asked the girl frantically. "Where is he!?" Sasha looked on the verge of tears as she shakily pointed towards the fully engulfed shuttle.

"I-I'm sorry!" She mustered. "I couldn't grab him!" They all looked on as the mass quickly made its way towards them and Macey blinked.

"Dammit!" She said. "Brace for impact, everyone!" Everyone in the shuttle readied themselves to be hit by the force. They did not know, however, that the downed shuttle was still intact and was still being held together by Cesaro. He used his powers to help Sasha and Travis out of the shuttle in time and had been holding onto the shuttle in hopes that the mass would pass through him. As it did, however, he felt it shift and change course, heading for his friends instead. Cesaro knew not what using more of his powers around the mass would cause, but he knew he could not let it take his friends. Thus, he proceeded to fully open his mind and embrace his latent Celestial powers. His eyes glowed a familiar golden hue and glowing energy began to swirl around him and pulse through his veins. Cesaro's chest plate broke upon to reveal the Mind Stone glowing in his bare chest as Cesaro harnessed its mighty power. Cesaro reached his hands out towards the cosmic mass and, with a loud boom, used every ounce of power he had to pull it away from his friends and back towards him. The man then proceeded to absorb the mass into his body and everyone in the shuttle watched as it slowly disappeared. Cesaro screamed in pain as the power rapidly filled his body, and he used as much of his power as he could to hold his body together, but the massive amounts of energy became too much to hold within him. The man absorbed every molecule of the force and a deadly explosion came from within him, destroying the shuttle and Cesaro's body. His friends witnessed the explosion in horror.

"Claudio!" John shouted. Macey looked away from the window as they all prepared to mourn the loss of Cesaro. The debris and the explosion cleared and they all saw the remnants of the cosmic mass being drawn into a shining light coming from where the shuttle once existed. The light faded and within it was Cesaro's lifeless body without its limbs. However, the mass slowly reanimated his limbs out of itself as it continued to be drawn into him until his body was made whole again. Sasha blinked and, out of desperation, teleported to where Cesaro's body floated. She examined him in fear and saw that his skin had no color, his eyes were shut, and his body dormant. Sasha held onto the man and teleported back into the shuttle with his body. Everyone cleared out of the way for them and Sami and John quickly made his way to their fallen Comrade.

"Can you feel him, Rami?" John asked frantically. "Rami?"

"I… " Sami stuttered. "I can't." John all but pushed Sami aside and held Cesaro in his arms. John was on the verge of tears when he saw what he knew to be a miracle. Cesaro's skin slowly regained its olive color and his eyelids fluttered open. His eyes were different, however. Going unrecognized by his friends were flashes of yellow and fire red light. The small flashes faded and revealed his sienna-colored eyes scanning his surroundings. John and Sami's faces lit up with excitement and relief.

"Is… " Cesaro started with a weak voice. "Is everybody… okay?" Even on the edge of death itself, Cesaro thought only of his friends and their safety. John's bottom lip trembled with joy as he hugged his best friend tight.

"Yeah." He said into Cesaro's shoulder. "Yeah, we're okay." Everyone sighed with relief as their comrade had lived through their ordeal and they were going home together, mission accomplished. Noam hugged Cesaro as tight as he could.

"Holy mackerel!" He said through tears. "We thought you were done for!" Macey was near tears herself when she remembered that they all needed to head back down to Earth. She pressed the intercom button.

"Mission Control." She said. "This is Starlight. All crew members are present and accounted for." She heard immediate applause in the background of the connection and it made her smile.

"Copy that, Starlight." They all heard Baxter say. "All clear to return."

"You got it, Boss!" Macey turned the connection off and looked to her crew.

"Guys." She said to all of them. "We ready to get back down to Earth?" Cesaro took a deep breath and nodded before saying…

"Let's go home."


	6. When You See What You Cannot

The rescue shuttle landed safely on Earth after what seemed like an eternity to those on board. The control room emptied to welcome them back home after a successful mission and, upon seeing her husband and friends, Ronda Rousey was unable to contain her relief and excitement. She left her status where she stood and ran for Travis, who welcomed her with wide open arms. They embraced and Ronda kissed him as passionately as her emotions allowed.

"Oh my god, Travis." Ronda said. "I thought I lost you." Travis smiled.

"You must have been scared if you're calling me Travis now." He said to her. Ronda looked to the rescue team.

"Thank you all so much." She said as she proceeded to hug all of them. "You risked your lives for the people I love the most. I don't think I can ever repay you all for this."

"A round of drinks would be nice." Seth said aloud. Ronda pointed at him.

"You got it! Gimme the time and place and we'll be there." Stephanie laughed.

"He didn't mean that." She told Ronda. "He doesn't even drink."

"Really?" Ronda replied with wide eyes. "Shame, because if I did, I'm sure I could drink him under the table." Seth scoffed.

"Well." He started. "If I did drink and were serious about that round, I'd challenge you round for round."

"In another life, I guess then." Ronda laughed before Baxter waved his hands at all of them.

"Alright, everybody." He said. "Let's go ahead and get you all debriefed and ready to go home."

"You all did a wonderful job out there." Zodrick added. "You should all be proud of yourselves." He then turned to Macey. "You were exceptional, Captain Estrella. Your training and dedication showed true. I'll make sure you are aptly rewarded." Macey nodded.

"Thank you, General." She replied. "I was just doing my duty, Sir." Zodrick smiled.

"I'm aware. You deserve recognition along with this wonderful team of Alpha Humans. Rousey and I will see to it ourselves." Ronda nodded.

"Absolutely!" Ronda added. "Whatever you need, just let us know." Cynthia smiled and nodded.

"Alright, guys." She said. "Debriefing's this way. It'll be quick and painless. Shuttle crew members, please follow me." Cynthia then headed for the launch pad exit and everyone who rode on the space shuttle followed behind her. On their way, the crew of the rescue shuttle followed her in silence as they continued to decompress after being in outer space. Then, they all heard Rex speak.

"Oh man." He said. "Am I glad to be back home? When I get outta here, I'm hitting up the first sandwich stand I see!" Maki rolled her eyes.

"Rex." She said simply.

"What? I'm starving! I've been living off of powder for what, 18 days now!"

"We were gone for one day, Rex." Sarah explained to the man.

"Well, it felt like 18!" Cynthia waved her hand at the man.

"Alright, alright." She said as she opened the door to the Conference Room. "Right inside." Cynthia walked inside ahead of all of them. "Take a seat anywhere at the large table in front." Everyone took their seats and Cynthia stood in front of the massive conference table. Sarah spoke ahead of Cynthia.

"So." She started. "Is this one of those things where we're not supposed to say anything about this to anybody?" Cynthia nodded.

"Yup." She answered simply. "That's exactly it." Cynthia then looked around the room at everyone else. "Everything you saw, said, heard, or did during this mission must be kept to yourselves until either the President gives you the all-clear or until the 48-hour embargo passes. After that, you're free to speak to any and all reporters and broadcasters since the major details of the mission were already explained by the President himself and aren't harmful to discuss."

"So." Nikki started. "We can't talk to anyone about it? Not even our loved ones?" Cynthia shook her head.

"Not before the 2 days pass or the President personally tells you it's alright to do so." She replied. "I honestly don't think the mission is confidential enough to truly warrant the embargo this time around, but we don't want to put out information and then hear the President say something different." Nikki nodded. Taking the notion as acceptance, Cynthia clapped her hands together. "Okay. Anybody have any more questions before we close out?" Rex began to speak.

"Yeah." He said with a childish smirk. "I have one, Miss Mayoli. Whatcha got going on tonight?" Sarah buried her face in her hands as she cringed at Rex's lacking effort to court Cynthia. Travis reached out and punched Rex in his arm. "Ow! What the hell, man!"

"Knock it off, Rex!" Travis told him.

"I'm just trying to make plans! That's all." Maki rolled her eyes and shook her head, as did Cynthia.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Macey said to Rex. "I hope that wasn't your pick up line cause that one can't hold water in a rain drop!" Sasha giggled then looked at the woman.

"Girl." She said to Macey. "I'm gonna have to use that one!" Cynthia went to speak. However, it was Cesaro, who spoke for her when she went to reply as if he had read her thoughts.

"She has plans with her husband tonight, Russell." He said plainly. Cynthia looked over to Cesaro with skepticism before taking a deep breath through her mouth.

"We're going to dinner." She added in an odd tone. "If you must know." Rex nodded both accepting of the rejection and confused as to how Cesaro knew his name as they not been officially acquainted. Sami looked over at Cesaro as if something were amiss before they all heard Cynthia speak again.

"Well." She started. "If you're all done with the thirst, you may go to the uniform area to change back into your clothes. Macey and those with the Repair Team, report to your lockers so you can change and get your things. Again, thank you all very much for your hard work. We all truly do appreciate everything you've done over the past few days." Everyone got up out of their seats and exited the room. Once outside, they all looked at each other.

"I never got a real chance to personally thank you guys…" Travis said to the Superstars before turning to Macey standing beside him. "… You also, Estrella. None of us would be here right now if it weren't for all of you."

"Yeah." Franklin said. "Claudio, most of all. Guy took a solar flare like it was nothing!" Cesaro simply shook his head.

"I just… did what I thought was necessary." He said. Rex nodded.

"Well." He said. "Like Trav said. We wouldn't be here if you guys hadn't come all the way to outer space to get us. Guess we're all buds for life now since we owe you ours." John smiled at the group.

"Sounds good to me." He replied, answering for himself and his friends.

"We'll be in touch." Maki said, respectfully dismissing herself to go change and gather her things. Sarah, overcome by graciousness, hugged Cesaro as tight as she could.

"Thank you!" She said to him. "You're so brave." Cesaro blinked upon feeling the woman's embrace. When she touched him, he almost instantly felt the emotions she felt within herself. The feeling of thankfulness for being saved from certain death and the empowerment for making an effort to thank Cesaro all rushed through the man's mind.

"_I don't know what I'd have done without him maybe I should get him a gift but I don't know what he likes and I don't even know his name I should call mom I miss her I'm hungry Rex is so stupid for hitting on Cynthia like that Estrella looked pissed about it and Maki didn't like it either men are dumb._" Her voice rung in his head with several other mumbled things that seemed to run together. He had not even noticed that she had let him go and that the group of humans had left until he felt Sami tugging on his arm.

"Claudio." Sami called out, breaking Cesaro from his trance. Cesaro looked over to Sami and saw how concerned he looked. "Are you okay?" Cesaro smiled as he saw that his friends were all looking at him with a worried look on their faces.

"I am." He responded. Though, it was not enough of an answer for the red head.

"You sure?" He pressed. "What happened in the conference room with you and Miss Mayoli? You read her mind without her permission. Not really your thing, man." Cesaro looked down to the floor as if he had realized what he had done moments prior only after Sami brought it to his attention.

"I didn't mean to." He said to them sounding slightly pathetic. "I just felt the need to help her out of that awkward situation." Sami could not shake the feeling that something was wrong but before he could speak on it further, Nikki spoke up.

"Maybe you should let Bryan come out and check you out when we get back to the mansion, Claudio." Nikki suggested. "Just to make sure you're alright." Cesaro nodded.

"Okay." He agreed.

"We're ready to go get out of these outfits then?" Noam asked in a pleading tone.

"I think we are." Sasha said as she looked down the hallway. "Let's go home!"

In the employee locker rooms, the repair team gathered their things and prepared to change into their normal clothes. Rex pulled out a dirty-looking white sleeveless shirt which seemed to draw the ire of his comrades.

"Rex!" Travis called out. "Get rid of that shirt, will ya?"

"Hell no!" Rex snapped back. "This is my lucky shirt!"

"You should have worn it under your uniform then." Eckers said. "If it is lucky, maybe none of this would have happened."

"It's not lucky." Maki said. "It's gross and Rex should trash it right now."

"I'm not trashing my shirt, Yo-Yo Maki, so screw off!" Rex took off the shirt he was wearing and put on his 'lucky' shirt. Macey eyed the man with slight disgust.

"You're not gonna get a woman wearing those types of dirty clothes, ya nasty!" She said to him in a joking yet slightly judgmental tone of voice.

"I don't need clothes to get a girl, Estrella." Rex said in a smug tone. "Most girls actually prefer my clothes off anyway." Macey rolled her eyes.

"Oh my god, Rex!" Sarah harped. "Please! I'm starving and you're ruining my appetite." Eckers then patted his stomach.

"Speaking of appetite…" He started. "What are we eating? Where are we going?"

"Ronda's probably gonna choose a taco joint." Travis said. "We can't get plastered, though, because we still gotta work tomorrow." Maki grimaced.

"Guess we're having tacos." She said. "… Again."

"You should come, Macey." Eckers suggested. "You missed our last taco outing. You'll love watching how shit Rex makes his tacos." Rex huffed.

"The fucking taco busted open on me, dammit!" He explained hastefully. "I had to do something! I was wearing my good white pants!" Macey laughed.

"I'll think about it." She replied. "I've got a few things I need to catch up on."

"We'll let you know where we go." Travis offered. "If you wanna come, you can just meet us there." Macey smiled.

"Sounds great." She said before grabbing her bag. "Well, ya nasties. I'm gonna go take care of the rest of work so I can actually get outta here on time today." Macey then smiled and said, "Welcome home, y'all" before walking out of the locker room and down the hallway to one of the women's restrooms to change. She paused before walking into the restroom, pulled out her phone and looked at the screen as she thought about what Sasha Banks said to her about becoming a wrestler. Moments before they parted, she had given Macey the number for the McMahons' mansion as well as her own personal number so that if she decided to give wrestling a try, she could contact her. Macey smiled to herself and headed into the restroom to change.

Outside the launch site, Shane and Stephanie waited patiently with smiles on their faces as their friends made their way to the vehicles they were all escorted in. Noam, ever cheerful, smiled big.

"It's time to go home and relax!" He said aloud. Sasha sighed a sigh of relief.

"My god, yes!" She said. "I need my bed right now!"

"We all do." John added. "I'm just ready for this day to be over." They all got into the escort vehicles, but Sami stopped Shane and Stephanie before they got into their vehicle.

"Do you mind if I ride with you two?" Sami asked. "I need to talk to you about something." Stephanie looked over at Shane then back to Sami.

"Of course you can ride with us, Rami." She replied. "Is everything okay?"

"We'll talk in the car." The two siblings nodded and entered their ride and Sami followed behind them once they were seated. As soon as Sami took his seat, Shane signaled to the driver that they were ready and closed the privacy window.

"What's going on, Rami?" He asked. Sami hesitated a bit before answering.

"I'm not sure how to say this." He started. "But something's wrong… with Claudio." Stephanie looked over at Shane with knowing eyes, making Shane shift a little in his seat.

"We'll talk to him when we get back to the mansion." Shane said to Sami. Sami, however, shook his head.

"No. There's something seriously wrong with him. I tried to hide as best as I could around him, but ever since we stepped off that shuttle he's felt different to me." Stephanie narrowed her eyes.

"Different how, Rami?" She asked. Sami swallowed a lump.

"I… Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"I can't feel his Alpha Human powers anymore, Stephanie. His Astral presence is gone. I feel nothing." Shane and Stephanie looked at each other and began to wonder what happened during the mission as they were only able to see the still image sent to the control center by Macey of the downed shuttle and the anomaly.

"What happened out there, Rami?" Stephanie asked. "What was that thing next to the shuttle in the picture Captain Estrella broadcasted?" Sami shook his head.

"I can't tell you about the mission yet, Stephanie." He replied. "We're not supposed to talk about it until the President says we can." Shane shifted his eyes around.

"If something happened out there that is causing this sudden change in Claudio you're feeling," He started. "Then we need to know right now so we can look into it when we get back." Sami took a deep breath.

"You know we won't tell a soul, Rami." Stephanie reassured. "We need to know if it'll help Claudio." After a moment, Sami nodded his head.

"I don't know what that thing was out there." He told them. "I don't think any of us do. We think it was a solar flare, but I do know that from the shuttle readings and the damage it caused to the shuttles, it was very hot. When Mercedes took Claudio back to save the captain, the solar flare hit it and Mercedes came back with the shuttle captain but without Claudio. Then it… came for us and all of a sudden we all see that gold glow. Claudio, he… absorbed the solar flare, I think. I don't know for certain. I know it was being sucked into the shuttle where Claudio's glow came from and then the shuttle exploded. All we saw were pieces of the shuttle and that solar flare being sucked into Claudio's body. I know he died out there. I must have after all that, but here he is in the car behind us like nothing happened." Sami looked down at his feet before continuing. "That solar flare he absorbed out there changed him… and since then I haven't been able to feel him like I feel every other Alpha Human. I don't feel anything at all."

Shane and Stephanie were left speechless after Sami's revelation of what had happened on the shuttle mission. Cesaro had put himself in the direct path of danger and, seemingly, in the sights of death itself at Shane's behest and desire to simply finish the mission and save the day. This upset Stephanie as it further proved everyone else's conclusion that her brother was taking advantage of Cesaro and the rest of their friends by putting them in danger time and time again, his regard for their safety deteriorating each time. It was a concern that rung in her head countless times from the moment she began to listen to the complaints from her comrades. Before Stephanie could think any further, Sami finally spoke again.

"Nikki suggested Claudio see Bryan in the lab when we get back." He said to them. "I think it's a good idea after what he's been through today." Shane, sweat beads forming on his forehead as he continued to take in what Sami told them, nodded in both agreement and relief that Sami unknowingly provided an escape from the heavy air that filled the cabin.

"Right." Shane said. "That is best. We will check further after we find his vitals are all clear." Stephanie simply nodded and the cabin filled with a stone clad silence. While not a telepath directly, Sami was able to feel a shift in Stephanie and Shane's moods respectively and immediately knew what it was about. Not wanting to add to the tension, Sami sat quietly as the vehicle carried them back to the mansion.

* * *

The President sat at his desk seemingly in heavy thought. He had just been given the news that the Alpha Humans successfully rescued the repair team and returned safely. The President initially told his secretary, Thomas, to send his thanks to the team, but recanted his request and told the man that he would send the news himself, Thomas waiting dutifully for further instruction. The President then nodded and looked towards the other man.

"How quickly can you gather the resources for a public ceremony here in the city?" He asked him. "I wish to welcome the repair team home and thank Shane and his Alpha Humans for their aid over the past few months, all publicly. It will be a smaller venue than usual, but I still wish for it to be televised and broadcasted nationwide." Thomas took notes regarding the President's request and nodded at the man.

"I can get everything together as soon as you wish, Sir," The secretary replied.

"Let's schedule for tomorrow at noon." The President said. "I will contact the guests of honor and inform them. I'll make a public announcement after that here in about ten minutes. Have my broadcast team ready for me." Thomas nodded once again.

"Absolutely, Sir." He responded. "I will make sure everyone is prepared for tomorrow as well."

"Thank you, Thomas." Thomas smiled, nodded, and then took his leave to tend to the President's requests. He then stood up and adjusted his tie as he waited for the broadcasting team to arrive in his office.

* * *

The group of Alpha Humans finally arrived back at the mansion after the seemingly long trip from the launch site. The drivers of the two vehicles stepped out and walked around to the cabins to let their passengers out. Everyone slowly stepped out of the vehicles, some stretching after being in a seated position for roughly two hours. Nikki let out an audible yawn.

"Oh my god." She said. "I am so tired. It's been a hell of a weekend!" Noam nodded.

"Fuck yeah!" He said in his thick Scottish accent. "Time for a hot toddy and a hot bath!" Sasha sighed.

"Hell yes!" She said. "I can feel the bath bomb relaxing me now." Cesaro shook his head at his friends. He then began to hop around as if he were burning off excess energy.

"How are you guys so tired?" He harped, surprising everyone with his sudden chipper tone after having said barely anything since they all landed back on Earth. John, truly not knowing how to respond, simply said…

"Probably jet lag, man." He then shrugged and asked Cesaro, "You feeling alright, Claudio?" Cesaro stopped hopping about and huffed.

"I feel fine." He answered. "Great, actually. I feel like I just had another five-star match with you. I feel like I can go for a hundred matches with you, John Cena." He then looked to Stephanie whose mouth was agape as she beheld his sudden actions. "Book it, Stephanie. It'll be great. A show stealer. Stephanie balled up her mouth and nodded.

"You got it." She replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Don't forget." Sami said to Cesaro while glancing over at the McMahon siblings. "We still gotta get you to Bryan to get checked out." Cesaro's eyes widened as he looked at Sami.

"Yeah, I know." He said to the man. "I mean, I feel fine, but I guess. Outer space and all." Cesaro then threw his finger up. "But, first thing's first. I need to find Fergal before he leaves. He owes me another game of archery." Everyone watched as Cesaro hastefully made his way to the mansion doors. John threw his hands up at Shane and Stephanie, the gesture asking them what was going on. Stephanie looked over at Shane who shook his head.

"Let's just go inside." He said. "We'll call Bryan and see how soon he can get to Claudio." Shane followed Cesaro to the mansion doors, everyone else following behind him reluctantly. Cesaro opened the door and was almost taken aback by what he and everyone behind him saw. It was all their friends applauding them upon entering the lobby of the mansion. Bayley was holding a sign she made that said, "Welcome Home, Astronauts" and was screaming at the top of her lungs in joy as they all welcomed the group home.

"What's up with this?" Sami asked, a smile lining his face. Charlotte walked out of the crowd and approached them.

"Well," She started. "We all saw the news and wish we could've helped. Then, we figured, why not throw a little 'welcome home' thing when you all got back?"

"Y'all did that!" Naomi added. "They're gonna be talking about this for a long time!"

"What was it like?" Becky Lynch asked. "What did you guys have to do out there?" Noam went to speak, but Sasha threw her hands up.

"We can't say just yet, y'all." She responded. "But I can say this, though. Ya girl's tired as hell." Everyone started laughing at Sasha's comment. Stephanie then waved her hand.

"Yes, yes." She said. "We all thank you guys so much for this welcome home wagon, but Mercedes is right. We're exhausted. Hope you all didn't go through much effort."

"Not at all!" Paige said before slightly elbowing her company, Simon, in the side. "We were just cleaning up, actually. You guys go on and get some rest and what not. We'll all catch up later on." Shane then spoke.

"Actually," He said before looking to Brie Bella. "Brie, do you mind reaching out to Bryan and seeing if he can come run diagnostics on Claudio?" Brie nodded.

"Of course I can." She replied. "What for?"

"Just as a precaution."

"You got it." Brie pulled out her phone and began dialing her husband's number. Then, Paige and Simon approached the group of fellow Alpha Humans.

"Uh, guys." Paige started. "This is-" Before Paige could continue, Simon reached his hand out to greet the group and introduce himself.

"Name's Simon Miller." Simon said to them all. "I'm a wrestler over in the UK, a big fan of all of your work. I'm a journalist, too." Cesaro was the first to reach out and shake Simon's hand.

"You're also an Alpha Human." He said to the man without regard, making him freeze in place. Shane and Stephanie looked at Sami, who nodded to confirm Cesaro's claim. Cesaro began shaking Simon's hand rather vigorously then continued to introduce himself to him. "Claudio Castagnoli. Always good to meet a fellow wrestler!" Simon nodded in confusion.

"Yeah." He said. "Good to meet you, too." Cesaro finally released Simon's hand and Simon then turned to Shane and Stephanie.

"Well," He said. "Now that the cat's outta the bag, yeah. I came with Saraya because I wanted to talk to you all about… you know, how you learned to control your powers. I'm, uh… having a bit of trouble, so to say." Shane nodded.

"We can definitely help you out, Simon." He told the Brit. "We're all a bit exhausted today, though. You're welcome to stay the night if you wish. We have plenty of room here. We can work with you tomorrow." Paige slapped Simon on his back.

"See?" she said. "I told you they'd help, you spook. Now I gotta run back home." Sasha grimaced.

"You're leaving already?" She said. "We were just catching up." Paige pouted.

"I know." She said. "But I gotta get back home before mom has a fit." She then looked to Simon. "You stay here with them and let them work with you." Paige then ran up to John and Nikki and hugged them both. "Congratulations again, you two lovebirds!"

"Thank you, love!" Nikki said with warmth.

"Sorry the wedding party was cut short." John said. "We'll try to schedule another one that'll last a few days." Paige shook her head.

"No." She said. "Don't worry about that. We've plenty of time to celebrate. Just take care of Simon, will you? Poor guy's got a lot of work that needs to be done." Simon looked at Paige.

"Quit makin' it seem like I'm some charity case, will ya!?" He harped. Paige shrugged and then waved at her friends.

"Bye, loves." She said before walking outside, a chorus of farewells following behind her. She promptly unsheathed her wings and took off into the sky on her way back home to England. Stephanie looked back at the other Alpha Humans to address them.

"Well, guys." She began. "You all did wonderful out there. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart." Shane then chimed in.

"Yeah." He said. "As always, you all came through and I'm sure the President will be calling to send his thanks. We're taking a break from all that so that John and Nikki can actually enjoy their wedding."

"Not that we didn't enjoy it the way it was!" John quickly spoke. "It was beautiful."

"It really was." Jey Uso agreed. Brie then looked to Nikki.

"Nikki and John put it together themselves." She said before describing all of the decorations with loving enthusiasm. Stephanie then looked over at Shane whom glanced back at her. She then grabbed Triple H's arm.

"I need to talk to Shane okay?" She told him. "We'll be back in a moment." Triple H nodded and with that, Stephanie left with Shane up the stairs and down the hallway towards the main office. Once both inside, Stephanie closed the door and looked at her brother with trying eyes.

"You gave me that look, Steph." Shane said. Stephanie folded her arms.

"How could you do that, Shane?" She asked him with a hint of disappointment.

"Do what?"

"You put them in danger, Shane. You put Claudio in danger." Shane scoffed, brushing off the uncomfortable feeling he got when Stephanie mentioned Cesaro. "If what Rami said is true then Claudio should be dead and the President should be sending his condolences."

"Claudio's fine, Steph." Shane responded quickly. "He's downstairs right now looking no worse for wear." Stephanie blinked.

"Shane." She said. "Are you hearing yourself? Our friends, no… our family… just risked their lives going into a space mission with no experience and no way of knowing they'd make it out safely. Claudio risked his life absorbing a solar flare." Shane rolled his eyes as he became annoyed with his sister's preaching tone.

"Steph." He said. "What do you want me to say? We're all here in one piece and we haven't seen any changes in Claudio. In fact, I'll check on him myself tonight before Daniel gets here tomorrow, okay?" Stephanie did not reply, the silence not enough for Shane. "Okay?" Stephanie did not budge as something else pressed her mind.

"That's not all, Shane." She started. Stephanie then sat down at the large office table, her brother following her actions.

"What else is there?" Shane asked after taking his seat. Stephanie took a deep breath before answering.

"I'm worried about you, Shane." She said. "Everyone is." Shane shook his head and went to speak, but Stephanie raised her hand to stop him.

"Let me finish." She said, making Shane buckle down in silence. Stephanie continued her words.

"Shane, I'm worried… that you're losing sight of what we started all of this for… why Mom and Mark opened the doors to our old home to people with powers like theirs… why they trusted us with their dream and why it became ours… why everyone like us downstairs and all across the world trust our dream to be theirs." Shane nodded with slight annoyance.

"What are you getting at, Stephanie?" He asked. "You don't think I know what this is about?"

"No, Shane." Stephanie snapped back. "I don't think you do. I really don't." Shane balled his mouth up and then went to respond.

"I beg to differ, Steph." He said. "We made a mess of things a long time ago when we casted out one of the most powerful Alpha Human telepaths because we didn't know how to deal with him. We turned him away and it came back to bite us hard. We nearly caused the death of our planet because we didn't help him when he clearly cried out for it. That was our fault… and because of that, we owe it to the world to make it right. We need to show them that we can protect them and save them from harm." Stephanie shook her head.

"Shane-" She began before being halted by her brother.

"No, Steph." Shane said. "Our dream was to show the world that they have no reason to fear us and what did we do? We gave them the ultimate reason to fear us… the opposite of what we wanted to do. Now, we need to rectify that and show them the truth." Stephanie blinked.

"And what is that truth, Shane?" She asked boldly. "What is it that we need to show them?" Shane furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean?"

"Having a direct line to the President and being at his beck and call should any disaster happen, running around saving people from damn near everything life throws at them, attending presidential (sometimes world-class) parties and functions, giving out seminars practically telling the youth that we'll always be around to save the day…. Shane. We are supposed to show them that we are just like them. We're supposed to show them that we can all live together!" Shane slammed his hand on the table with a loud thud, startling Stephanie and making her jump in her seat.

"We're not the same, Stephanie!" He said, his tone even giving him pause as he drew his hand back and lowered his voice. "We're not. Do you know how hard it was for me to finally see that? Everything we worked for, everything Mom and Mark worked for towards making this a world where we are all treated the same… it's no different from any other civil leader who tried to do the same thing we're trying to do. We… are not… equal, Stephanie, and to them, we never will be equal. We're faster, stronger, smarter… we're more than human. We're better than that." Stephanie looked away from her brother, signaling to him that something inside her told her that he was right. "… and something tells me that you know that already." Stephanie then snapped her head back to her brother.

"Shane..." She said with slight anger. "I'd be a fool if I said I believe we can be equal. Being equal was not my dream. It was for all of us to understand our differences and live with them, humans and Alpha Humans alike. The dream was to face the world and its demons and fight to make it a better place… together. That's always been the dream for me. I know that fear the humans have for us will always exist. I haven't been working as hard as I have been to get rid of that fear. I've been working so that we can all work through that fear and understand it together. I knew all of that, Shane." Shane paused then looked away from his sister, making her blink woefully. "What I didn't know was us having different ideas about what the dream really was." Shane the sighed. Before he could speak his thoughts, however, his phone began to ring. Stephanie eyed him as if she were wishing he'd turn to stone.

"Answer it, Shane." She said. "I know it's him probably giving praise. Put it on speaker so we both can hear what he says." Shane then moved to answer the President's call and then pressed the speaker button and laid the phone on the table.

"Good Evening, Mister President." Shane said while looking directly at Stephanie who eyed him attentively.

"Shane." They both heard the President say on the other side of the call. "I know you all must be exhausted so I'll try to keep this brief, but I wanted to truly thank each and every one of you for once again risking your lives for us under such strenuous circumstances. I am organizing an awards ceremony in the center of Union Square at noon tomorrow to honor the amazing work you've done and the risks you've taken for our country." Shane and Stephanie looked at the phone then back at each other as the President continued. "Please consider this a formal invitation for all of you and whomever you wish to bring. I will make certain that there is a place for all of you there, so I'll be expecting to see your faces so that I may thank you personally."

"We'll be there, Mister President." Shane replied.

"Wonderful! I will send transportation for all of you in the morning, nine-thirty. We will see you there, and thank you once again for your courageous efforts."

"Of course, Mister President. Glad to help." The President ended the call and Shane looked up at Stephanie. Her body language seemed to reek of discomfort. Shane noticed and sat down to talk to her.

"Steph." He said calmly. "I'm sorry if it looks like I've stopped believing in the dream. I haven't. It's always on my mind, always. All these parties, gatherings, and seminars trying to reach out and build bridges to places I know nothing about, taking chances and risks. I'm just trying to do what I know works. I'm doing this so we can be safe. If we can keep the hate quiet then we can put more focus on the love and make that stronger, you know." Stephanie sighed.

"Shane." She said. "You know better than any of us here that something doesn't stop existing just because no one talks about it. It's still going to be there and it'll come back twice as strong each time until you can't hide it anymore." Stephanie then stood to her feet and turned for the door. "I'll have Pamela show Simon to his room and then let everyone know about the ceremony at Union Square tomorrow." She then turned back to her brother. "… and Shane? Think about what I said. It won't disappear if you ignore it or push it away." Stephanie then walked out of the office, leaving Shane in the office by himself to think about her words.

Something in his sister's voice made him grow weary. It was as if she knew something he did not want her to know. He had made a mistake and left his mind unguarded for Stephanie to enter? No. He made it a practice to always make himself unreadable to Stephanie, to Lana, and even to Cesaro. As if on cue, Shane heard a knock on the door. It slowly opened to reveal Cesaro.

"Shane?" Cesaro asked. "Stephanie said you wanted to see me and you'd be up here." Shane fixed himself and address the other man.

"Actually yes." He said. "How are you feeling? You gave us a big scare up there." Cesaro shrugged.

"I feel fine." Cesaro replied. "More than fine, actually. I feel great." Shane shook his head.

"Claudio. You know you don't have to lie to me. We're better than that. I know you're not okay." Cesaro went to playfully detest, but Shane did not allow it. "It's okay. If it's personal, you don't have to tell me, but I do want to make sure you're okay. Will you let me in your mind so I can help you come back home?"

Cesaro blinked and saw that Shane was, in fact, serious. Cesaro had always felt it was too far a burden to discuss his own emotions with many. He trusted his newly appointed best friend, John Cena, with a mere handful of selected inner musings and ruminations but with Shane, he felt he could entrust more if for no other reason than him being a fellow telepath. The man felt his grip on himself loosening after using his Celestial powers to save those caught in the earthquake in California, but it was Shane who helped him come back. Since that moment, he looked to Shane when he felt his emotions slipping through his grasps and Shane was always able to bring him back down to earth. Cesaro knew this time would be no different. He used his telekinesis to lock the office door and then laid on the table facing up.

"Okay." Cesaro said simply. "I'm opening my mind and putting myself to sleep now." Shane nodded.

"I'll keep you safe, Claudio." He said. That moment, Cesaro took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Shane then made his way closer to Cesaro, placed his hands at the man's temples, and proceeded to project his Astral Presence into Cesaro's subconscious.

His body appeared in what seemed like an endless sea of colors ranging from vibrant blues, greens and violets to faint yet phosphorescent strands of gold, each color representing different thoughts within Cesaro's mind. Shane knew exactly where he needed to go and skillfully navigated the sea of thoughts, following the various strands of gold where the strands were the thickest. As he traversed, he noticed that the strands of gold began to show small traces of orange hues, the orange intensifying to reds as he trekked on further.

Shane stopped his quest and then looked ahead to see what he knew to be the source of the golden strands of energy. There within the sea of colors was the Mind Stone, its energy pulsating around it and breathing life into the golden veins present in Cesaro's mind. In several places around the gem were what appeared to be broken transparent bonds that slowly dissipated with every pulse the gem emitted. Shane knew this sight well and it all made him shudder in slight fear, but there was something that seemed different from the other times he encountered the cosmic gem. Its energy was not only a golden hue, but there was also a swirling cloud of orange and deep red around it. The sea surrounding the stone gradually transformed into a sea of burnt oranges and reds and Shane noticed what looked like small cracks on the surface of the stone itself and faint red energy pulsating from within those cracks. Shane did not understand what it meant, but he knew he did not want to spend too much time in Cesaro's subconscious. He focused his Astral energies on the broken bonds surrounding the Mind Stone and began to strengthen them until they formed psychic walls around the stone's energy. The walls worked to bind the energy and seal it behind them, the golden strands dissipating as their energy source was cut. Shane worked to strengthen the walls until he no longer felt the stone's power. Shane then heard what sounded like a faint cry from behind the walls; it sounded pained and stifled. He shut his eyes and focused on the cry before whispering…

"You can do anything you put your mind to…" The cry ceased and Shane watched as the colors of Cesaro's thoughts returned to normal. Shane then decided that he had spent enough time in Cesaro's mind, so he carefully withdrew his Astral presence and returned to his body in the physical world before waking Cesaro from his psychic slumber. Cesaro slowly opened his eyes.

"How do you feel, Claudio?" Shane asked. "Are you okay?" After a few moments, Cesaro responded with a smile.

"… Better." He said. Cesaro sat up and slid off the table onto his feet then went to hug Shane. "Thanks, Shane. I don't know how, but you seem to always know what to do." Shane nodded.

"You can come to me anytime, okay?" Shane said as Cesaro released his embrace. Then, Cesaro stretched as if he had paid a long visit to a masseuse.

"Geez." He said in an unusually playful tone. "Did you give me a massage before you woke me up this time? If so, thanks because I feel amazing!" Shane blinked as normally his work would not have had any effect on Cesaro's physical being at all.

"Maybe you just needed help clearing up some of the clouds in your head." Shane said to Cesaro. "I'm just glad you're feeling like yourself again." Cesaro turned for the office door.

"I do." He replied. "Thank you again, Shane." Cesaro then unlocked the doors and walked outside. Shane eyed him the entire time, unable to tear away from the fear of what he saw within Cesaro's mind…


	7. Ceremony

The President had made the announcement moments ago across multiple platforms about the ceremony to honor the men and women who went into outer space to repair the communication satellite and the Alpha Humans who risked their lives to save them. Prior to that, he had taken his time to contact the guests of honor personally letting them know about the ceremony. In her hotel bedroom, Macey Estrella cycled through the clothes she brought with her in an attempt to pick an outfit to wear the next day. The fact of the President being the individual responsible for the event made the task that much more difficult as Macey knew she needed to look her best. Macey ended up finding an outfit that caught her eye. It was not a dress, but a simple, white formal pant suit. Macey smiled upon seeing it.

"Oh, I remember this old thing." She said to herself. "Last year in the Marines, I wore this." She then thought to herself and began to look through her shoes. "Did I bring… yes!" She pulled out a pair of matching white heels then placed the entire outfit at the front of her closet. Macey then pulled out her phone and looked at the screen as she thought about Sasha and her proposition. What the younger woman offered to her stayed on her mind since she spoke to her, and Macey kept thinking about calling Sasha only to have the thought leave her mind as quick as it came. She then noticed that Rex had texted her the address to the bar and grill where all of them were meeting for food and drinks to celebrate their safe return home and when they would be there. Macey balled up her mouth and decided she would meet them all there. She replied to tell them she would be on her way in a bit then went to her closet to grab her jacket. Macey then dialed Sasha's number. The phone rang twice.

"Hello?" Sasha said on the other line.

"Hey girl." Macey replied. "It's Macey Estrella. You gave me your number earlier today. Are you busy?"

"Oh hey! I wasn't expecting you to actually call me. I was on the lookout for a text or something, but no I'm not busy at all. What's up?"

"Well, I thought about what you told me, that you'd train me to be a wrestler."

"Yeah?" Macey could almost see Sasha's face light up. "Did you want me to train you?"

"I think I do wanna give it a go."

"That's great!"

"I know. I'm gonna try it out and see how it works for me."

"Oh, I hope you love it! Now, it's pretty tough starting out and I won't be taking it easy on you, but I don't think it'll be a huge problem for you since you were in the military. I'll work on the basics with you and, if you really do like it and think you're gonna go all in, I can recommend you to a legit school. One that I went to. You'll learn about choosing a good gimmick for yourself, how to sell to the crowd, all the goodies. Oh, I have a perfect for you already! I bet you could totally pull off that Southern Belle persona." Macey laughed.

"Ya know." She said. "… That's not a bad idea. Sounds like fun, actually. When's a good time to start? Tell me when and where. I'll be there."

"I'll have to get back with you on that." Sasha replied. "I gotta make sure it's okay for you to use the Performance Center, but I promise it'll be soon!"

"Take you time, hun. I'm a patient gal."

"Alright. Well, are you gonna be at the Presidential Ceremony tomorrow?"

"Yup. Got my call a few minutes ago."

"Great. We'll see you there!"

"Wonderful. Take care, love, and thank you again for this."

"No problem! Bye, Macey." Sasha ended the call on her end and Macey put her phone in her jacket pocket. She made her way into the bathroom, grabbed her purse, and made her way out of her hotel room to meet her friends.

* * *

Stephanie had instructed Bayley to show Simon Miller around the Safe Haven facility. The two trekked the halls as the younger woman showed her older guest around.

"This here's the library." Bayley said as they approached the large room full of bookshelves. "We've a lot of books here, but we're always looking for new books to add to the collection." She walked Simon around to a small kiosk. "We have virtual books, too. You can hook up a tablet here and download one of them to keep for up to a week. All this is, of course, if you like to read like that. I love reading, so I'm always in here." Simon nodded.

"Good to know." He said to Bayley. As most other Americans who have come in contact with the British, the man's accent threw Bayley off her tracks nearly every time he spoke. The girl clasped her hands together.

"Any questions about anything in the mansion?" She asked. Simon shook his head. "Okay. I'll show you to your room. Luckily, it's not far down the hall." Bayley proceeded to lead Simon out of the library and down the hallway to his room.

"Does everyone have their own room here?" Simon asked Bayley.

"Well, yes and no." She replied. "Everyone has their own room while they're staying here, but only a handful of us actually live here full-time. The rooms on this floor are temporary rooms and the floor above us have the permanent living spaces. Newcomers stay on this floor, then if they want to live here once they are comfortable and in control of their powers, we move them upstairs." Simon nodded. The journalist in him chose to question Bayley further.

"How many people have you all had throughout this place?" He asked.

"Like, since the mansion started this whole thing? I don't know. I do know that Alpha Humans come from all over this side of the country to discover and understand their powers better. Everyone used to come here and all of the rooms were full at one point, but once the McMahons started investing in other facilities across the world, this one got less and less full. Now, only a few of us are here with just about everyone else tying themselves to the facility closest to where they live. You know, like the one you guys have in England." Simon nodded once again, pleased with the answer he received from Bayley.

"Yeah." He said. "It's usually got people in and out of there. Saraya and her parents always have their hands full, it looks like."

"I can only imagine."

"You guys have it a little better than us, though. The McMahons are mainly here, right? I know they visit our facility and the other ones, too, but the HQ is right here. That's why Saraya wanted me to come here, I guess. So I can get help directly from them. To be honest, though, I don't think I need that much help."

"What can you do, Simon?" Bayley started with a bit of curiosity in her tone. Simon slowed his pace down a bit.

"Well." He started. "My body takes electricity and turns into stuff I can use. Like, I can stick a fork in a socket and not get shocked or electrocuted. Instead, my body will hold on to the electricity for a bit and then I can use it." Bayley's eyes widened.

"That's amazing!" She said before stopping at the room Simon was to stay in. She opened the door and allowed him to enter first. "Well, this is your room. Make yourself at home." Simon looked around the room and surveyed it. "It's getting late and I'm sure you're tired and all, so I'll let you unwind. My room is upstairs if you can't sleep. I'll be up reading. Room 52-B." Simon smiled as he sat his things down.

"Thanks." Simon said. "Pamela, was it?"

"Yup. That's me." Bayley waved. "Good night, Simon." With that, she left the man to his room. Simon put his duffel bag on the dresser and began unpacking it, pulling out a small voice recorder and a rather expensive camera instead of clothing. He sat the recorder on the vacant side of the dresser and walked over to the nightstand near his bed and carefully placed the camera on it. Simon then took off the backpack he wore that actually held his clothing and sat it on the floor near the bed, feeling proud of always being able to pack so lightly when it came to traveling. As he unpacked his clothes, he heard a soft yet commanding voice speak from the hallway.

"This used to be my room." Simon turned around to see Cesaro standing in the doorway looking around the room with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah?" Simon replied. "Guess that's why it's still so clean given how you hold yourself." Cesaro shook his head.

"Nah, but that's part of it. It had to be remodeled a few times." Simon nodded.

"Gotcha." He then proceeded to unpack his clothes and store them in the smaller dresser. "Is that why you moved rooms or do you stay here?"

"Oh, I live here." Cesaro took Simon's question as an invitation to enter. He stepped in the room and sat at the desk, turning the chair around to face the other man. "I'm living here because of some family issues." Simon stopped packing his clothes away and looked at Cesaro.

"I'm sorry to hear that, man." Simon said. "I hope it all gets worked out for you soon. Nothing like having a family." As Simon spoke, something in Cesaro's mind shifted his train of thought.

"Right." He said. Then, seemingly out of the blue… "You're a journalist." Simon blinked at the statement.

"Uh, yeah." He answered. "I have been for a while."

"Journalist… photographer… wrestler… you do a lot." Simon raised his eyebrows in slight confusion.

"It's not really a lot for me." Simon replied. "I loved doing it, so it never feels like work. The traveling and opportunities, I could never trade all that in." Simon then laughed. "I gotta say, though, I've been wrestling all this time and I've never been pressed for so much info before. I feel like-"

"One of the people you've interviewed in the past." Simon blinked after Cesaro finished his thought for him. "I know what you're here for. You're here for a story. Right?" The question floored Simon and the man was stuck searching for a response. Cesaro simply smiled at him. "It's okay. I wasn't expecting you to tell me that. I already knew. You're here to get a story from one of us about the mission and because Saraya insisted you come to have Shane and Stephanie help you understand your powers a bit better, you figured you'd use the opportunity to get close and learn as much as you can about us while you're here." Simon shut his eyes, balled up his mouth, and nodded.

"You can read minds then?" Cesaro laughed at the man's accusation.

"I'm just extremely attentive and aware." He responded. "You came here with Saraya and I know how headstrong she is. Surely she coaxed you into coming here instead of staying in England at your facility. Then, you introduced yourself as a Journalist. What Journalist wouldn't want a story straight from the horse's mouth, right? Who wouldn't want to hear about how the WWE went to space and saved their people from certain death?" Simon thought to himself. While he could not recollect every word he had said, he did recall telling the Superstars what he did for a living. He raised his eyebrows, impressed with how attentive Cesaro showed to be.

"I guess I did say all that." He replied. "I introduce myself so much that I guess I forget what I say sometimes." Simon let out an airy laugh then noticed Cesaro had not moved his eyes away from him, making him slightly uncomfortable. Simon spoke again. "Uh, so tell me. You can read minds and stuff, right? I bet it makes plenty of things easier for you." Cesaro's facial features did not alter as he replied in an unusually sultry tone, his eyes not looking away from the man across from him.

"The mind is a place where all our deepest, darkest thoughts go to hide from everyone else." He said. "Some of those thoughts and feelings are things we are not necessarily ready to accept. That's definitely true when we have to deal with others finding out about them. We usually lock all that away until we're ready to handle it, much like a vault. If someone were to… break the code to that vault and see what's in there, well, who knows what that could lead to." Cesaro then leaned forward without taking his eyes off of Simon and smirked. "I can break into that vault of a mind in your head anytime I wanted to and do so much more, but that would be too easy." Simon tried to grasp what the other man just said to him. It almost felt to him as if Cesaro was implying something about him.

"What?" … was all Simon could say in response. Before he could respond again, Cesaro sat back in his seat and spoke.

"If you can wait until tomorrow," He started. "… then you'll have your story, straight from me. You're free to ask me anything you want, as long as you're ready for the answer." Simon blinked and threw his hands up, defeated by the sheer amount Cesaro gave his mind to process.

"Guess I'll have to think about some good questions for ya then." Cesaro stood to his feet and smiled.

"I guess you will." Cesaro said as he made his way towards the door way. The man then turned around and smiled at Simon. "Welcome to the mansion. Sleep well." Cesaro then turned away and left the room without giving Simon a chance to reply, leaving the man dumbfounded and without words to describe the conversation between them. As Cesaro made his way down the hallway headed towards his room, his eyes flashed a faint gold color and he felt his train of thought shift once again.

* * *

It had gotten late and the group of Ronda Rousey, her husband Travis, Rex, Eckers, Sarah, Maki, Franklin, and Macey had all ended their night and made their way out of the bar and grill where they chose to meet. They were all laughing as they met outside the bar.

"Dude!" Ronda said to Rex. "You've gotta learn how to hold a fucking taco! That waitress looked so pissed off when you dropped it on her!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Rex explained. "It just fell outta my hand while I was drinking my beer!"

"You need both your hands, ya nasty!" Macey said through a fit of laughter. "Didn't you learn the last time?"

"You weren't even around the last time this happened, Chick, so shut up!" Rex's retort only made Macey and everyone else laugh harder.

"So glad you made it out this time, Macey!" Travis said as he grabbed and held on to Ronda's waist.

"Yeah." Franklin added. "Sucks you missed the last outing we had when we were all in town together." Macey smiled.

"I know." She said. "I finally got to finish my stuff and figured I'd come hang with the crew tonight before we all part ways tomorrow evening. Lord, I'm glad I did. I almost forgot how stupid y'all are! Y'all had me dying at that dart board!"

"I know I can't throw, okay?" Maki said. "No need to rub it in."

"Seriously, though." Rex added. "You can do, like, everything except that!" Maki nodded.

"Yeah." She said. "I may not be able to throw darts, Rex, but I can cut you… very proficiently, I might add." Travis raised his hand.

"Alright, alright." He said playfully. "I think we're all ready to head back to the hotel, right?"

"Yeah." Ronda added. "We still have that ceremony to go to tomorrow. Gotta be up and ready for it." Eckers looked at Ronda.

"Especially you, right, L-T-C?" He said to her. "Don't you have some extra stuff to be up for now that you're a.. what, Lieutenant General now?"

"Lieutenant Colonel." Ronda corrected. "And yes, actually. I have to be there by nine to help set up."

"Gross, Babe." Travis said. Ronda shook her head.

"It's fine, Trav. It probably isn't much different from what I did back in Arizona during these events. Put up some stands, set up seating, all that stuff."

"Anyway." Sarah said. "Let's head back to the hotel. I'm actually getting a little tired and I don't wanna fall asleep hauling your drunk asses back." She then looked at Macey. "Are you sure you don't want a ride back to your car? You parked pretty far away." Macey waved the woman off.

"I'll be fine, love." She replied. "My legs work just fine and trust me, it's only a block around the corner. Y'all just get on back safe. Call me or text me when you get there, okay?" Sarah nodded.

"Sure will." She said.

"Bye Macey!" Franklin said as he hopped in the large rental SUV. Macey waved at all of them as they all got in safely. Sarah waved back at her as she drove off, Macey watching the vehicle leave before making her way to her car. She started to hum one of the songs she had heard in the bar as she made her way down the street, but immediately stopped when she heard what sounded a man and a woman talking in a parking lot not too far from her. Neither sounded distinctly distressed, but the woman did sound a bit perturbed. Macey paused a moment and listened in while she carefully made her way to where the voices were coming from.

"Yeah." She heard the woman say. "I think I'll just catch a cab, but thank you." Macey then heard the man speak in a pleading tone.

"Come on, Baby." He said. "The night's still young. I can take you home."

"Yeah, no. I'm fine." Macey was able to see the two in the parking lot and what she saw angered her instantly. The man heard the woman's rejection but did not take it kindly. He grabbed her arm in desperation, garnering a look of fear from her.

"Baby, it's not safe out here by yourself." He said to her as she tried to jerk her arm away.

"Are you kidding!?" The woman yelped. "Let go of me!" She continued to jerk her arm in an attempt to free herself from the man's grip, but he would not let go of her. The couple then heard Macey call out to the man specifically.

"Excuse me!" Macey spoke sternly as she approached the two. "I do believe she said let her go."

"Look, lady." The man said as he brushed Macey off. "We're fine, okay? She's just a little drunk and I'm trying to get her home. Just mind your own business, alright?" Macey glanced over at the woman and saw the pleading look on her face.

"Alright." Macey said. "This is only gonna go one way, but how we get there depends on what you decide to do with this classy little lady right here, right now." Macey boldly walked up to the man as she spoke. "Either you let her go like she asked and we can forget about all this happening or I make you let her go and force you to remember it for years to come. The choice is yours, Boy." The man twisted his face and released his grip on the woman's arm before turning towards Macey.

"I told you to mind your own damn business!" The man shouted as he pointed at her, the smell of alcohol present on his breath. The woman behind him grew weary of his actions.

"Trever, stop!" She shouted at him, only for her plead to fall upon deaf ears. The man known as Trever advanced on Macey and proceeded to reach out and put his hand around her neck.

"You wanna be a hero, huh!?" Trever said as he tightened his grip, unaware that Macey had not flinched. Trever then balled up his fist and swung at Macey's face, his fist hitting her directly in the nose or so it seemed. Trever's facial expression changed when he saw that Macey was not affected by his strike at all. In fact, she managed to catch his fist right before it hit her face. The two then witnessed Macey twist his wrist then grab the other that had a grip around her neck, her hands glowing vibrant flames of yellow and blue. Trever winced and shouted in pain as the woman looked him in the eyes.

"Lord." Macey said to him as she pulled Trever's hand away from her neck. "Y'all always choose the hard way." She then effortlessly lifted the man into the air with one arm and balled up her fist. Trever then raised his hands and began to plead.

"W-wa-wait!" He said in a stutter. "I'll leave, I'll leave!" Macey smiled.

"You gonna catch a cab home?" She asked playfully. Trever nodded fearfully. "Okay." Macey withdrew her energy and dropped the man, letting fall to his knees with a thud. He quickly stood up and began running away, pulling out his phone and dialing for a cab all the while. Macey then looked over at the woman; she was breathing rather heavily and looked as if she had seen the sky fall before her. "You okay, honey?"

"I, uh…" The woman said. "I'm okay. Thank you."

"Sorry about the theatrics. I hope I didn't scare you too much." The woman straightened up and smiled.

"I'm Kaci." She introduced herself.

"I'm Macey." Kaci narrowed her eyes.

"Lacey?" Macey pursed her lips.

"No, sweetheart. Macey. Macey Estrella." Kaci's eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Macey." Macey gave the woman a motherly look.

"It's fine, hun." She said. "Common mistake. Well, Kaci. Was that guy, Trever, your ride home?" Kaci nodded with an embarrassed look on her face.

"He kinda was." Macey then wave Kaci over to her.

"I'll give you a ride home, Darling." She said graciously. "I feel like you've had enough for one night." Kaci smiled again.

"I really have." Kaci told Macey as they walked to Macey's car. "Thank you again."

"No need to thank me, Kaci." Macey said. "You needed a bit of help and I couldn't leave you by yourself." Macey then stopped. "Before you ask, yes. I am an Alpha Human."

"I figured as much." Kaci replied. "No offense, but I don't know many people with glowing fists who can pick a man up with one hand and aren't Alpha Human in some way."

"Just wanted to clear the air on that so you aren't scared like you were back there." Kaci nodded.

"It's kinda cool, actually." She said. "I've never met an Alpha Human in person before."

"We're just like everybody else, honey." Macey explained to Kaci. "We can just do a few things some other people can't. That's all."

"I can see that." Kaci then looked at Macey. "Well, I don't think I can thank you enough for helping me back there. I think that's the last time I'm gonna see Trever ever."

"It better be!" Macey snapped back as she opened the door for Kaci to get in. "Nothing's worse than an angry Drunk man, ya hear me?" Kaci grinned.

"Right!" Kaci got in and Macey closed the door behind her before getting in herself, starting the car up, and pulling off into the night traffic.

* * *

The morning was early as the Superstars in the Safe Haven mansion prepared for the Presidential ceremony later that day. In their room, John and Nikki finished their formal attires. John stood in the mirror and looked at himself, second guessing his decision to wear a bow tie as he still was unable to properly tie it. Nikki simply looked on with a look of amusement on her face.

"I'm right here, you know." She said to him. "I can tie it for you."

"No." John said. "I need to get this." Nikki could not help but laugh as she stood up and turned him around to face her, John allowing her to do so.

"This… is you choosing to be stubborn and not wear a regular tie." Nikki proceeded to tie the bow for him and turned him back to the mirror so they both could see themselves. "There. You look amazing." John smiled.

"We look amazing." He corrected, warranting a loving kiss on his cheek. "Ready to go downstairs?"

"Yup." Nikki said as she adjusted her dress. "Let's go." John offered his hand and knelt, jokingly letting Nikki out of the room first. She playfully slapped him on the shoulder and stepped out of the room, John following behind her and closing the bedroom door. On their way, they ran into Naomi and Jimmy Uso, both dressed in formal wear. Jimmy bit his lip.

"Damn, baby." He said to Nikki playfully. "Can I take you on a date?" Naomi looked at him.

"Only if I can take John out with you." She said to him. The four laughed at each other.

"Double date?" Nikki said to Naomi.

"Bet!" They made their way down the stairs to join the others and sure enough, nearly everyone attending the ceremony was downstairs in the sitting area waiting for the transportation to arrive.

"Fine of you to join us." Triple H, standing with Stephanie, greeted them as they made their way down. "We're just waiting for the limousines to get here."

"How many are coming?" John asked.

"Enough to hold all of us, I'm assuming." Sami Zayn answered.

"We're still waiting for E and Claudio to come down." Brie added. Naomi looked around and noticed that Big E and Cesaro were indeed the only two missing from the group of Triple H, Stephanie, Shane, Seth, Sasha, Bayley, Noam, Becky, Jey, Roman, Daniel and Brie, Kevin, Sami, Becky, Charlotte, Mojo, Simon, Lana, Rusev and then the four of them. Before long, Big E made his way down the stairs and was greeted by Mojo and Rusev.

"Cleaning up good, my dude!" Mojo said as hugged Big E.

"Yeah, yeah." Big E said with a big grin. "Gotta rep these astronauts over here, ya know. Gotta look my best!"

"Ettore." Shane called out to Big E. "Did you see Claudio up there on your way down?"

"Naw." The man replied. "I passed by his room and the door was still closed. Need me to-" Before Big E could finish, they all heard Cesaro make his way down the stairway.

"I'm here." Cesaro said, knowing the others were waiting for him. "Sorry for the wait. I couldn't find my good shades." He then pointed to his sunglasses.

"You and your sunglasses." John said to Cesaro as he made his way down to join them all.

"I guess now we play the always-fun waiting game." Charlotte said.

"It shouldn't be much longer now." Shane said. Almost as soon as he spoke, the doorbell rung loudly throughout the lobby. Triple H opened the doors to reveal their escorts standing there in wait.

"Good morning, all of you." One escort said as she pointed to the five limousines waiting outside. "The President sends his regards to all of you. The first limousine is for the guests of honor. All others please follow me to the other transports." The woman lead the large group to the following four limousines and the man lead Triple H, Stephanie, Shane and the seven Alpha Humans involved in the space recovery mission to the first limousine. The escorts made sure everyone was seated safely before signaling the drivers to leave, both of them making their way to their own vehicle to follow behind.

* * *

At the venue of the ceremony, General Zodrick and Ronda had been running around working with several others to make sure that everything was in place per the President's orders. The seats for all the attendees had been placed on the massive stage and most of the rest of the seating was in place. The camera teams were readying their equipment to broadcast the event and greeters were greeting several guests who opted to arrive early while showing them to their seats. Finally being given a reprieve from the preparation, Ronda stepped behind the stage and took a breath. She then felt Zodrick step next to her.

"You doing alright, Rousey?" He asked her. Ronda nodded.

"I'm fine." She responded. "I mean, it's only been a few days, but busy moments like this make me miss my soldiers back in Arizona. We used to have to put together quick shin-digs like this all the time when the big wigs were supposed to visit us." Zodrick placed his hand on Ronda's shoulder.

"Why don't you take a few days to go back and see them once we're all done here? I didn't give you a chance to say goodbye to them, after all. Don't worry about things here. If I need you, then I'll call you." Ronda nodded.

"Thank you, General." She replied. "I'm going to go check on the podium and see how everything's coming with the decorations." With that, Ronda left Zodrick to his own devices.

An hour had passed and every guest who planned on attending had taken their seats to include the guests of honor, all of whom were sitting in their seats on stage. Everyone was talking amongst themselves when, moments later, Zodrick and Ronda stepped to the podium and Zodrick began to speak.

"Please stand for the President of the United States." Zodrick instructed. Everyone stood to their feet and Zodrick stepped down from the podium. Then, the presidential bodyguards entered onto the stage and the President made his way to the podium holding an official document folder. The audience applauded his presence until the man raised his hand.

"Thank you very much." The President said. "You may all be seated." Everyone did as they were told and the man took a deep breath before beginning his introductory speech.

"What is a hero?" He asked rhetorically. "A hero is someone who is willing to risk their life to protect, to preserve, and to rescue. Some of us are unsung heroes working to preserve our families, our homes, and our loved ones. Some of us risk our lives daily to protect what means the most to us. Then there are those of us who selflessly answer the call of duty and face death without worry or fear. We are all heroes in our own right. Today, I would like for all of you to join me in honoring a special group of heroes who, in the face of danger and inexperience, stood tall and worked together to bring our men and women home from the depths of the unknown."

From within the audience, as the President spoke, Lana noticed that Cesaro had begun sweating and saw him pull out a handkerchief to wipe his face.

"_Are you okay, Claudio?_" Lana reached out telepathically. Oddly, she got no reply from him. Only after she reached out to him again did she receive a response.

"_I'm fine, Catherine._" Cesaro responded telepathically before placing the handkerchief back into his blazer pocket. Sami, sitting next to Cesaro, noticed the motion and glanced over at him briefly. Lana blinked then turned her attention back to the President and his speech.

"… on behalf of the WWE… Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, and Paul Levesque." Everyone in the audience and on stage clapped as the mentioned trio made their way to the podium, all three of them greeting the President as he stepped down and made way. No one on stage noticed Cesaro shut his eyes and breathe deep; the sound of the applause seemingly disturbed his senses as he hissed slightly. He did not see the underside of his eyelids as he closed his eyes, however. He saw numerous faces swirling around behind a faint imagery of flames. It felt like a nightmare and it made Cesaro open his eyes to see that he was still on stage. He quickly fell in line and continued with the applause as Triple H began to speak into the microphone.

"Thank you all very much." He said. "Thank you for your praise and your gratitude. It truly makes everything we do to better this world worth the sweat, the tears, and the sacrifice. We know any one of you would have done the same thing if given the opportunity, but you trusted us with bringing them home safely and we're honored for the trust. We can only hope that trust and respect will continue to grow as we all do." As Triple H spoke, Cesaro began to hear voices in his head, the thoughts of the many people around him conglomerated in his mind. It became so loud in his ears that he once again shut his eyes out of instinct. Stephanie then felt a strange shift in the air and looked around without turning her head to see if she could find where the feeling stemmed from. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Cesaro adjusting the collar of his shirt. She then Triple H pass by her returning to his seat and turned her attention back to the podium as the President took the stage once again, this time joined by General Zodrick and Ronda Rousey.

"Were it not for the brave Superstars of the WWE," He began. "The men and women up here today would not be with us, but let us not forget the call to duty and fearless work of everyone involved. They all stood tall and did an extraordinary job in keeping us all connected while we work to build unity." The President proceeded to call each one of the Repair Team members up by name, each of them stepping up as their name was called. "Travis Browne. Maki Setomura. Russell Haas. Sarah Caracciolo. Franklin Greene. Jason Eckers. Macey Estrella. Your courage and dedication to the mission will be remembered from this day forward as the glue that held the mission together. Please accept this award celebrating each of your actions in working to connect each and every person in the country in an effort of unity and coming together." Macey and the repair team each stepped up to Zodrick, the man handing each of them a commemorative plaque on behalf of the President and shaking their hand. The audience applauded the celebration, all except Cesaro whom once again slammed his eyes shut in an attempt to mentally quell the voices growing ever louder in his mind. This time, however, his efforts were for naught and his head began to pound causing him physical pain strong enough to make him grab his head.

"Stop…" He said quietly, though not quietly enough for Sami not to hear. The man looked over to Cesaro with worry in his eyes.

"Claudio?" Sami called out with concern. When Cesaro did not answer, Sami immediately reached out to Shane, Stephanie, and Lana telepathically.

"_Something's wrong with Claudio!_" He shouted in their heads, making all three of them look in the man's direction to see him physically distraught. It was not long until everyone in the audience noticed Cesaro's condition. It was his close friends sitting amongst them, however, who worried the deepest.

"Cat?" Rusev called out to his wife. "Is he okay?" Lana did not answer, her worry not faltering as her gaze was locked on Cesaro. On stage, everyone slowly became aware of the increasingly critical situation and Shane reached out to Cesaro.

"Claudio!" He said. Cesaro did not respond. The bodyguards on stage ran for the President and proceeded to escort him off the stage, causing the audience to begin to panic and leave their seats. "Don't panic!" Charlotte shouted and she and the other superstars in the audience worked to rally them back together. Zodrick all but leapt off stage and aided them as they tried to calm the people. The noise of the crowd only seemed to fuel Cesaro's pain; the voices in his head were the thoughts of everyone in attendance running through his mind. Tears began to run down his face as the brilliant gold and orange energy started pulsing veins underneath his skin.

"Stop!" He shouted aloud at the thoughts flooding his head. That moment, his power unleashed itself in a massive burst of telekinetic energy so strong that blew everyone and everything around him away in its wake. It ripped through the crowd of people and tore through the stage and surrounding buildings, tearing it all to pieces and throwing the unsuspecting crowd in all directions until they all hit the ground. Triple H slowly gathered himself and Cesaro fall to the ground unconscious, his energy depleted after the mysterious outburst. He then looked around and saw what the outburst had done; fires had broken out in several spots, exposed power lines were seen and many people were lying motionless, likely knocked unconscious from either the blast or their fall. It truly looked as if a bomb had been dropped in the immediate area and everyone had been caught in the blast zone. Triple H then heard Stephanie's voice near him.

"Paul." He heard her say faintly. He looked over in her direction and saw that she was still laying on the ground but looked unharmed aside from dirt on her clothing. He stood and ran to her aid, helping her to her feet. She looked around at the aftermath and immediately thought of safety. "We need to help them out of here." Triple H nodded and looked to see who was standing. It was then that he noticed something he had not noticed before. As the smoke began to clear, he saw that there were several injured people amongst them. He began to hear screaming and groaning from people who finally came to realize the magnitude of the situation and felt the panic began to set in. Several feet behind them, Macey stood to her feet. She was physically unharmed but still wore a tormented look on her face as she surveyed her surroundings. Her instincts led her to helping the injured and she ran to the aid of the nearest person to her. She ran to the man and saw that he was bleeding from a wound on his side.

"Are you conscious?" She asked him. The man nodded. "Keep calm, okay? I'm gonna get you some help." She looked around and shouted. "I need some help over here!" Feet beside her, Shane slowly regained consciousness. He carefully sat up as the pain from the fall set in on his body and looked around to see the destroyed scenery. The first person on his mind was Cesaro. He looked for the man and saw him lying lifeless on the floor, but noticed that his arms and face were still riddled with slowly receding veins of energy. A fear set into his mind as he looked at those veins…


	8. What Have You Done?

The President sat silently in a conference area of an undisclosed building with General Zodrick, Ronda Rousey, Macey Estrella, and all the members of the repair team. The ceremony held to celebrate the Alpha Humans and crew who helped with the space mission had abruptly come to an end after the one known as Cesaro mysteriously lost control of his powers and unleashed them upon the unsuspecting crowd. No one had been killed (much to his relief) but several people had been injured and many of them were seeking retribution. In addition, news stations and social media had begun talking about the incident mere moments after it happened with false news spreading like an uncontrollable wildfire. All of this weighed heavy of the leader's mind as he tried to decipher how to undo the mess that had been made of what was meant to be a day of triumph and reward. The President touched the small bandage on his temple and winced. He then heard a knock on the door and motioned for one of the bodyguards to allow the guest to enter. His guests were Shane and Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and the Alpha Humans (minus Cesaro) who had flown out to save the repair team already in the room. Each of them quietly found a seat at the massive table. Once they were seated, The President began to speak.

"Well." He said with in a burdened tone of voice. "I'll remain cordial and thank you all for making it here." He then put his hand to the wound on his temple. "There is nothing welcoming, however, about the feeling I have in my temple right now."

"Mister President." Stephanie began, almost pleading the man not to speak. "We understand the measure of what happened and we are ready to-" The President put up his hand, signaling for Stephanie to stop talking.

"I truly don't need to hear about how much you understand, Miss Levesque." He said. "The reason being me or any one of those people who were in attendance this afternoon not believing that you do. I don't believe you understand the magnitude of what happened out there. I wanted this ceremony to be one of the turning points we all needed and another step in the right direction to comradery, compassion, and unity amongst all of us. Alpha Human and Human. Suppressing the fear and the stigma that humans have in their mind for being one of you all has always been my goal so that our country would finally be shown in a light of peace and togetherness in a time where this world so desperately needs it. You knew all this because I've made it known to you many times over and yet… here we are. Damaged. Bandaged. Torn down with cracks in our surface and lights shining right in our faces for the world to use as affirmation for the one thing we all somehow knew we would never be able to shake… fear." The President stood out of his seat and began pacing behind it, everyone's eyes fixed on him. Almost out of guilt, Shane went to speak.

"Sir." He started. "I know this was a terrible accident, but that is all it was… an accident." The President stopped, looked Shane in his eyes, and shook his head.

"These people don't want to hear that, Shane." He said simply. "They want answers. This world wants answers and I'm expected as Commander in Chief to give them those answers. It is my duty to represent our country in moments where the world doubts our motif." He then pulled a small remote from his blazer pocket, pressed a button on it, and from the table came a holographic image of one of the videos of the ceremony being displayed on the wall behind him. He pointed to the video as he continued to speak. "When they see things like this shown on every single news feed and social media outlet contradicting everything that we worked to set in place, they want to know what it means. They don't want to hear 'it was an accident' or 'we're working around the clock to make sure something like this does not happen again'… they want the truth. We want the truth, Shane. We want to know… why."

Everyone in the room had their eyes fixed on Shane, and he felt every single stare. The feeling they gave him felt like a blazing grip around his throat threatening to choke the life from his petrified body. It took his breath, his actions, and his words from him as he continued to sit silently like a child chastised for committing a crime. After sitting silently for so long trying to settle down the worry, Ronda spoke up and cut the silence.

"You don't have an answer." She said, causing everyone's gaze to turn to her. "Do you?" Her agitation was clear to not only her husband who sat next to her with a large bandage wrapped around his head, but to the entirety of the repair team and to Zodrick.

"Rousey." Zodrick said in a pleading tone, only for his plea to fall upon Ronda's ears much like a rubber ball would bounce off a brick wall.

"You don't know why that guy went off and destroyed the stage, Shane." Ronda said. "Admit it!" Travis grabbed his wife's wrist to calm her as he knew where it was headed.

"Ronda." Travis pleaded with her. "Calm down." To his surprise, Ronda snatched her wrist away from him.

"No, Travis!" She said with a look on her face that would terrify even the mightiest of deities. "Our Commander in Chief asked Shane a question and all he can do to sit quietly like no one's been hurt or bruised or anything!" Ronda then reverted her stone-sharpened gaze back to Shane who still had said nothing. "People could have been killed out there! WE could have been killed out there and the only thing you can give us is a silent "I don't know" when our president asks you a valid question why? Where even is Claudio now, huh? Why isn't he sitting here with all of us!? I'll tell you why! He's not here because you don't want him to be here! You know he's a threat to all of our lives and hiding him away, sheltering him instead of trying to control him so things like this don't happen!" Macey looked over at Ronda.

"Now, hold on." She said to her. "We're all upset about the situation here, but nobody should be trying to control anybody. He's still a human regardless of what happened." Ronda turned her glare to Macey.

"Excuse me?" She said with offense. "You're kidding right? They're not humans, Estrella. They're Alpha Humans. They have powers that we don't have and we all know what those powers can do when not put in check! You know it, I know it, our president knows it, everyone here knows it. What happened out there can happen again. What happened six months ago can happen again and what can us humans do about it, Macey? Absolutely nothing, that's what! They can destroy this whole planet and none of us get a say in the matter at all! You don't think that type of power needs to be controlled?" Macey shook her head.

"That is not what I said." She replied. "I said nobody should be doing anything to try control another person." Ronda's rage only grew stronger as Macey spoke in an attempt at reason. It had grown to the point where it had reached a boiling point.

"Alpha Humans are not people, Macey!" Ronda shouted, everyone in the room eying her in shock. Macey narrowed her eyes as she felt anger grow within her own conscious. Triple H (along with the other Alpha Humans in the room) had obviously taken offense to her heartless remark.

"You mind saying that again, Rousey." Triple H said with a calm yet menacing tone.

"You heard me." Ronda replied, venom lacing her words. "Alpha Humans are not people. They're not humans!" The President simply cleared his throat and everyone had stopped talking to give him the floor. He took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking as Ronda's outburst clearly agitated him.

"Everyone." He started. "Please sit down." Ronda and Triple H took their seats without taking their eyes off each other. "No matter our personal feelings on the matter, Claudio Castagnoli is still a human regardless of his abilities, and he will be given the same respect and justice under constitutional right. I say that to say this. His actions, be them accidental or malicious, caused a great deal of damage to our country's trust in all of you. People are hurt because of him. He will answer to his actions at my request. He will appear in front of me personally and a jury of my own choosing in 48 hours. If he does not show, I will have no choice but to classify this as an act of terrorism and I will take the necessary steps to apprehend him. I hope that is clear." The President then stood to his feet, giving everyone a sign that he was going to end the meeting. Ronda and Zodrick followed suit and the bodyguards made their way towards him. The President looked directly at Shane. "I will make sure that you are given the details of where he will be appearing within the hour. I trust Claudio will do the right thing." With that, the President made his way out of the room with Ronda, Zodrick, and his bodyguards all in tow. Everyone else got up out of their seats and followed his lead soon after, but Sami stopped Macey as she passed by him, lightly grabbing her arm to get her attention.

"Can I help you?" She asked him.

"I just wanted to say thank you for standing up to her for Claudio." He said. Macey shook her head.

"Don't thank me for that. Our Commander in Chief is right. He needs to answer to this, but he's still a human no matter what happened today. I just… did what I felt was right." Sami nodded.

"I know." He said to her before shutting his eyes. "…and I know why." Macey blinked at him, mentally kicking herself as she knew her power flared up while engaging with Ronda in the conference room and she knew if anyone would have caught that, it would be the man in front of her. Sami then shook his head. "I won't hold it against you. I'm just gonna say… be careful." Sami then turned around and met with his friends. They all joined hands and Sasha used her powers to teleport out of the area and back to the mansion. Macey stared at where they all once stood as if she were mesmerized by the lingering magenta energy. That is, until she was brought back to reality by Travis's voice.

"Macey." He called out to her. Macey turned to see him approaching her. "Listen. I'm sorry about Ronda in there. She's-"

"A prejudice hothead?" Macey said, cutting Travis off. "It's alright. I've met a few in my days in the military. Nothing new."

"Now wait a minute. She's a hothead, sure, but she's not prejudice." Macey shook her head at the man.

"Look." She said. "You're her husband. I get it. What she said in there, there's only one of two things behind that. It's either ignorance or prejudice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see that woman being ignorant enough to spit out something that in there." Macey then threw her hands up. "We're all still shaken up a bit by all this. Hell, I was having flashbacks from a war I was never in. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt this time. No apologies needed." Travis simply nodded.

"Thanks, Macey." Travis said to her. "I still feel bad. I always do when she goes off on a handle like that."

"Well," Macey said. "You married her. You had to know what you were getting yourself into. No point in feeling bad about it if you love her. I'll talk to you later, Travis. I'm gonna go check on some of those people in the hospital." Macey waved then left Travis behind and he went to his car, his mind on Ronda and what was on hers.

* * *

The ride back to headquarters had been quiet for both Ronda and Zodrick as neither of them said anything to each other. Ronda was still upset about the conference, the evidence of such being written across her body language. She sat in the vehicle with her arms crossed and her mouth drawn into a seemingly permanent scowl. Zodrick, however, sat patiently as if waiting for her to speak. After nearly ten minutes of silence had passed, he finally spoke.

"You know," He started. "I could have you demoted and sent home after the stunt you pulled back there." Ronda, still fuming, did not move an inch.

"But you won't." She said to him, disregarding her rank against his as she turned her scowl towards him. "Because you feel the same way I do." Zodrick balled up his mouth and looked to the floor, confirming Ronda's suspicions.

"You're right." Zodrick told her. "I do feel Claudio should pay for what happened back there and I do feel Shane and Stephanie are protecting him from that. The problem is you constantly forgetting that you are not in Arizona anymore. You cannot scream your feelings at the top of your lungs anymore. That's not how things work."

"Why not, Zodrick? I'll admit that me saying Alpha Humans aren't humans was out of line and believe me, I'll apologize as soon as I get a chance, but-"

"Rousey." Zodrick's tone hardened quickly. "The relationship we have with the McMahons is a working relationship forged for the greater purpose of unity between Alpha Humans and humans. How we feel about each other holds no merit in that purpose. What you do represents our Commander in Chief. Remember that next time you lose your temper like you did back there." Ronda looked away from Zodrick feeling every word he said sting into her skin. "Not only did you embarrass yourself, you embarrassed me and very well have cost the President one of his most valuable connections. What you did in that conference room will not happen again so long as you answer to me. Understood?" Ronda bit down before responding.

"Understood." She said. Zodrick nodded.

"Good." He said. He then looked down at his feet as he thought about what Ronda had said in the conference. "I agree with you about humans being at the mercy of Alpha Humans and their powers." Ronda looked back at Zodrick as he spoke. "What Claudio did back there was just a fraction of what I've seen him do, but it still leveled everything within a 4-block radius, damn near. That type of power should be controlled and regulated so everyone has fair say should something happen."  
"Well." Ronda said. "What do we do about it?"

"That is in the President's hands, Rousey, and believe me when I say that he is fully aware. Just keep in mind that there are ways he needs to do things. This is a delicate situation and he wants to make sure one side doesn't rebel against the other and cause unrest. He knows what he's doing and he heard what you said… because I've said it to him before."

"I guess that part's confidential, right?"

"Yes. It's even kept from me. Only he knows about his plan until he's ready to give the details to us. We've got to trust him, Rousey. That means no popping off the handle like you did back there. You put him in a hard place that he has to try and clean up." Ronda nodded.

"Understood." She said. "I do feel terrible about how I said what I said."

"I'm sure you do, but it's out now. You'll have to deal and better yourself from here on, Lieutenant Colonel. Mind your words." Ronda nodded. "I know I told you to take some time off to bid your former soldiers goodbye, but we likely have long days ahead of us. I'll need you in the office, so stay close by."

"Yes Sir." Ronda replied without thinking. "I'll be there."

"Good." Zodrick said before sitting upright. "Rousey. I need you to understand why I chose you to join my side. You speak your truth without worrying about how others feel. You're passionate and compassionate, but you're no push over and you're willing to go the extra mile to complete the mission even when it means risking your life. I admire that in you because it reminds me of how I was when I was your age. I truly believe that you will be the one to replace me when I retire, which is why I wanted you by my side. I want you to see what I have to do every day and learn from the best. I'm gonna be tougher on you than I've been on anyone before you." Ronda clenched her teeth.

"I understand, Sir." She responded. "I'm honored you chose me. Whatever you need, I'll do." Zodrick reached out to Ronda's shoulder.

"I know that." He said. "I want you to be better than me. I know you can do that." Ronda took a deep breath as she absorbed Zodrick's revelation. She knew that he used his status to have her promoted outside of proper protocol, potentially demoting others who stood in line for her position. What she had not known until that moment was why he had done it. It was clear to her then that Zodrick was nearing retirement and would not trust his duties to just anyone. He needed someone worthy of his status to take his place once he stepped down and he felt that Ronda had everything he was looking for and more. Pride and fear fell upon her as even then, she still had no idea what the full scope of Zodrick's duties were. She did know that she would not fail him after being so deeply indebted to him.

"Absolutely, General." That moment, Zodrick's phone rang. He pulled it out and saw that it was the President. He quickly answered the call.

"Yes, Mister President?" He said. "… Not to question, Sir, but are you sure? … Very well. We'll get it done… yes, Sir. We will keep you informed." Zodrick ended the call and looked over at Ronda whom looked to be trying to listen in on the conversation. "There's been a change of plans."

* * *

Sasha safely teleported everyone back to the lobby of the mansion. Upon arrival, the group was greeted by Brie and Charlotte.

"Are you alright, Ashley?" Stephanie asked. Charlotte nodded.

"Still a little drained from the shield." She replied. "But I'll be fine."

"Bryan and Austin just got here when you all left." Brie told them. "They're down in the lab with Claudio."

"How is he?" John asked Brie.

"I haven't been down there. I'm not sure."

"I'll go check on him." Shane volunteered. Stephanie immediately interfered.

"We… will go check on him." She said, making Shane look away with a shameful look on his face. "We'll be back." With that, She made her way down the hallway that led to the laboratory, Shane in close tow. The two siblings said nothing as they made their way down the hall and into the elevator. Once the doors closed, however, Stephanie spoke.

"You know something about this." She said to her brother. "Don't you?" Shane was hesitant to answer.

"I'm sure it was just a mistake." Shane said.

"A mistake, Shane? On whose part? His or yours?" Shane said nothing and Stephanie turned to look him in the eyes. "When we finish here, we need to talk. You know something and you're gonna tell me… everything." The elevator stopped and its doors opened to reveal the laboratory, the small metal room resembling that of a high-end emergency room full of state-of-the-art equipment. There, in the middle of the room, stood Daniel Bryan, Simon Miller and Austin Watson (known in the WWE Universe as Xavier Woods) eying one of the screens near the hospital bed holding a comatose Cesaro. Daniel turned around to greet the two.

"Glad you're alright." He said to them, his voice making Xavier turn around as well. "I hope you don't mind, but I brought Austin with me because I thought I'd need some extra brain power." Stephanie smiled at the man.

"Of course." She said.

"How's he doing?" Shane asked Daniel. Xavier sighed.

"Well." He started as he turned back to the screen showing what looked like electrocardiographic data. "According to the vitality monitor, he's fine."

"The problem is this." Daniel said as he pointed to another monitor that projected a simple dark blue screen. Stephanie shook her head.

"The Alpha Human energy monitor?" She asked rhetorically. "… There's nothing on it." Daniel nodded.

"Exactly." He said to her. "After using so much energy, his reading should be sky-high. Even while resting, Claudio's always had a ridiculously high energy reading. This time, though, there's nothing showing. It's like the monitor isn't able to pick anything up from him, which isn't possible because he's still here breathing and should definitely have an energy reading." Daniel then looked to Simon. "I asked the new guy here to get on the machine so I could test and make sure there was nothing wrong with it and it gave us a reading for him, so it isn't that." Shane swallowed a lump. It was almost as if he knew he had something to do with the occurrences but was unsure what to say to his comrades or his sister.

"Wh-what do you think it could be?" He ended up asking. Xavier shrugged.

"We don't know." He replied. "We don't have anymore tests we can run down here." Stephanie thought to herself and found a possible method.

"We can see if there's anything out of place in Claudio's mind." She suggested. Shane's face began to lose its color. He knew that Stephanie would not be able to venture through Cesaro's mind on her own, so he would have to guide her. That also meant that she would see the walls he had put up in Cesaro's mind. Ultimately, it meant there was no more running from his actions. Shane would have to explain what the walls were for. He mentally prepared himself, both for Stephanie and for the voyage through Cesaro's conscious.

"I'll go." He volunteered himself, Stephanie looking over at him.

"You won't need me?" She asked skeptically.

"I will. If something is wrong, I won't want to risk both of us in there. Just…" Shane hesitated a bit before continuing, truly because he did not want to say was he about to say. "… link to me and project what I see onto the wall so you can see it safely out here." Stephanie nodded.

"Alright." She agreed. "Simon. Turn the lights off when we give you the word, if you will."

"Yes Ma'am." Simon said. He then thought about the wellness of the man on the bed. "Doing that won't hurt him or anything. Will it?" Stephanie shook her head.

"No, Simon." She answered. "He'll be fine." Simon nodded.

"Will you need the rest of us to leave?" Daniel asked.

"No." Shane quickly answered. "You can stay. I won't be in long." Shane looked to Stephanie. Her face was nearly unreadable aside from her tightened lips which usually meant she was anxious. He nodded at his sister and she then used her powers to link her mind to Shane's and allowed his psychic eyes to link to hers.

"Okay, Simon." She said to Simon. "Turn off the lights." Simon nodded and went to flip the light switch. "Don't say anything about what you see in here to anyone, alright?"

"You got it." Daniel answered.

"Right." Xavier followed. Simon simply nodded.

"Okay, Shane." Stephanie said to her brother. "Do your thing." Shane took a deep breath to clear his mind then proceeded to try to link to Cesaro's mind. However, this time it took more energy than it normally did, causing Shane to worry (though he dared not show it to the others). Once he was able to enter the man's conscious, the room illuminated with clouds of red, violet, blue, and green. The clouds themselves were laced with vibrant strands of gold and orange, their appearance in the clouds resembling lightning bolts of fire. Daniel, Xavier, and Simon marveled at the sight of it all while Stephanie seemed to be studying each cloud as Shane maneuvered through them.

"What is all this?" Daniel asked.

"This is Claudio's mind." Stephanie explained. "Each one of these clouds represent a thought, either of the past or the present." Unbeknownst to them, however, Shane grew worried as the amount of thoughts in Cesaro's mind was far greater and contained more golden strands than the last time Shane had entered his conscious. It was then that Stephanie noticed that some of the clouds had what appeared to be broken bands around them and it made her grow skeptical. "Shane, what are those bands?" Without opening his eyes, Shane answered her.

"After the earthquake in California," He started nervously as he continued to trek through Cesaro's mind. "Claudio began to… complain about headaches. He asked if I could help him figure out what was behind them so… I entered his mind and found… fragments." Stephanie furrowed her brow.

"Fragments of what, Shane?"

"I don't know. I wasn't able to make sense of them. The bands are-"

"Psychic bonds." Stephanie said, realizing what the bands around the clouds truly were. "… Shane, what did you do to him?" Shane swallowed hard. Before he could answer, everyone in the room saw the moving image on the wall stop with Shane. What they all saw had them in awe.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Simon said out of shock and sheer confusion. What they saw was the source of the golden strands in Cesaro's thoughts and the source of his powers. There, shrouded in a rather thick cloud of red and orange, was the Mind Stone in all of its golden glory. It emitted a pulsing light that filled the room with a beautiful phosphorescent light that pulsed through the strands like blood coursing through veins. Shane had not moved his Astral presence since arriving, though not because he reached where he set out to go but also because he was beyond terrified. He knew that there was something different about the being in front of him. Then it hit him; he recalled sealing the Mind Stone behind a psychic wall much like the banding around some of Cesaro's thoughts only to find it had been torn down. Shane then realized that the cracks in the Mind Stone had grown larger and emitted a deeper red light from their confines. The others had not noticed these differences as they had never seen the being until that moment. What they (namely Stephanie) had noticed was the presence of the remnants of the psychic wall Shane had put up floating around the Mind Stone.

"Shane?" Stephanie asked, a hint of fear in her voice. "What is this?"

"This… "Shane started, knowing what would come afterwards. "… This is Claudio's power source."

"Why are there those bands floating around it?" There it was. The question Shane was dreading. That was the moment he would have to explain everything he had done and he knew that he would not be able to stretch anymore of the truth.

"I… " He stuttered. "I… needed to make sure he wouldn't… hurt us." Stephanie blinked.

"Hurt us?" Daniel repeated. "Shane, what did you do to Claudio?" Shane could almost feel the tears beginning to swell in his eyes as he knew what he was about to say to them would shake them to their cores.

"I… I… " Shane could not bring himself to answer Daniel's question. That was the moment Stephanie realized what Shane had done.

"You tried to block his powers." She said. "Didn't you?" Shane shut his eyes to try and stop the tears from falling, but to no avail as his shame and guilt won him over. He withdrew himself from Cesaro's mind and the images on the wall faded away. Simon turned on the lights and everyone's eyes locked onto Shane who sat in the floor with tears in his eyes. Stephanie's face was lined with anger, frustration, and (most prominently) sadness.

"Shane… " She said with pity. "How could you do that to him? He trusted you." Shane hung his head.

"I didn't know what else to do, Steph." Shane's answer angered Stephanie even more.

"So you tampered with the mind of another human being, Shane? That was your answer? Do you even know what type of damage you may have caused him by putting up all those barriers in his mind, Shane? How could you? How could you be so heartless?"

"He's not like the rest of us, Stephanie. He can do things that none of us can. Six months ago, he single-handedly revived this planet and saved it from the brink of death. Not even Mark had the power to… give life to the dead. It… terrified me… I wanted to make sure he'd use his powers only to do good things… the things we wanted. I wanted…" Shane then stood to his feet and looked directly into Stephanie's glossed eyes. "I needed… to keep him under control, Stephanie."

Stephanie shook her head in disbelief. Everything that everyone had been concerned about was confirmed by Shane himself. Her brother had betrayed Cesaro's trust in him by trying to control his abilities using mental blocks and psychic bindings to shield the Mind Stone's power away from him. Then it began to make sense. Every mission Cesaro attended, Shane was close by, in his ear, telling him what to do and when to do it. The emotions Stephanie felt overwhelmed her to the point where she could not keep her tears at bay. Shane stood in the cloud of his guilt as his sister broke down into tears.

"I'm so sorry, Steph." He said pathetically. "I should have told you." Without saying a word, Stephanie ran past Shane and into the stairwell. Shane reached out to Stephanie to try and stop her. "Stephanie!" All everyone in the room heard was Stephanie's footsteps as she climbed up the stairs. Shane blinked away tears and then felt everyone's eyes on him as he turned to face them. Daniel, Xavier, and Simon eyed the man in disgust.

"You've lost it." Simon said, on the verge of tears himself. "Real dirty thing you did to Claudio. And from what I know, he did nothing to deserve it." Simon shook his head and followed Stephanie upstairs. Shane looked at Daniel and Xavier with pity guilt all over his body, but all the two could do was look at him in a state of shock from all they just witnessed. Daniel then looked at Cesaro, back to Shane, and then looked away with sadness filling his grizzled features. Knowing that he had no sympathy where he stood, he made his way to the elevator and sunk to the floor as it closed. Daniel and Xavier looked at each other before looking down to a still dormant Cesaro as he laid in a peaceful rest, seemingly unaware of everything that had been revealed to them.

As the elevator finally reached the top floor, Shane stepped out appearing to be finished with life. It was then that he heard what sounded like John Cena shouting and arguing with someone else that did not sound familiar to him. The commotion woke him from his sad state and he tried to focus on the noise. He made his way to the lobby and found that everyone's attention had been averted to the front door. Shane then saw what looked like military police standing in the doorway and John standing right in front of them with Nikki trying to pull him back inside.

"The President gave us 48 hours!" John shouted. "He hasn't even recovered yet!"

"Sir!" One of the military policemen shouted back. "Please step aside or we will have no choice but to move you." John angered more, giving the official one of his angry laughs.

"John, please!" Nikki pleaded.

"Come on, man!" Mojo Rawley said to the official. "Give us some time! We'll get him to you!"

"Claudio Castagnoli is to come with us now by order of the President!" Shane then saw Stephanie run into the lobby.

"What is going on?" She asked.

"The President sent them for Claudio!" Noam told her. "They're trying to take him away!"

"What?" The policemen turned their attention to Stephanie.

"Misses McMahon." One of them said. "We are here by order of the President to retrieve Claudio Castagnoli for questioning and trial effective immediately." Stephanie shook her head.

"He's not even able to move." She told them. "We were given 48 hours from today to send him." She then noticed Shane standing a ways behind them and looked back to him. "Shane! Why are they here now? Say something! Shane? Shane!" Shane could hear nothing Stephanie or anyone had said from that point. He knew that everything going on was his fault and the weight of it all rendered him motionless. He knew not how to fix any of the mess he had made nor did he understand the magnitude of what he had done. All he thought about was Cesaro. Cesaro was the only one who occupied Shane's mind and it frightened him as it made him think of what might become of him and just how little he would be able to do to help… if Cesaro even wanted his help after what Shane had done to him. The pain of the guilt torn into his chest and ate at his lungs like a debilitating cancer.


	9. Guilt is Free

A defeated Shane McMahon left the laboratory in the basement of the Safe Haven mansion the revelation of his actions fell upon Stephanie McMahon and the others in the room. Only Daniel Bryan and Xavier Woods remained, the two men were still shocked by what they saw and heard mere moments ago concerning the still unconscious Cesaro laying on the medical table. Xavier looked at Cesaro with pity.

"Poor guy." He said, not knowing what else to say. All Daniel could do was shake his head as he thought about Shane. He looked at Cesaro and it seemed he was torn away from everything going on around him as he rested in peace. Daniel and Xavier then heard an audible beep. They looked to find it had come from the equipment monitoring Cesaro's energy signal. Daniel quickly made his way to the machine and saw that it indeed showed a reading. Daniel furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Is it showing a reading?" Xavier asked as he made his way over to the machine to see for himself.

"It is." Daniel answered simply. "A steady one at that." Xavier looked at Cesaro with concern.

"What if what Stephanie said was right, Brian?" He asked. "What if Shane really did mess something up in Claudio's head and that's what's causing this stuff with his energy level?" Daniel hesitated before answering.

"I don't know." He said. "I don't think there's anything we can do on our end to help him if that's the case. They're the only ones who can tap into his head." He then looked over at Cesaro. "Honestly, though. I don't think that is going to help either." Suddenly, the pair saw Cesaro's eyes snap open, causing both of them to jump slightly. Cesaro looked around the room without moving until his eyes met with Daniel and Xavier's. He gave them a soft smile.

"Hey Brian." He said in a tired voice. "Hey Austin. Good to see you two." Daniel quickly smiled at the man.

"Good to see you awake, Claudio." He said. Cesaro took one more glance at his surroundings before slowly sitting up.

"What am I doing in the lab?" He asked.

"We just needed to check on you again and make sure things are okay." Xavier answered. Cesaro raised his eyebrows.

"Am I good?" He innocently asked. "I feel okay." Daniel nodded.

"Everything looks good to us. Not a hair outta place." Cesaro chuckled lightly.

"I don't have any hair." He said. "Not on my head, at least." He then sat up, grabbed his shirt, slipped it on and began speaking again. "I wonder how the ceremony thing went. Shame I didn't get to go." Daniel and Xavier looked at each other with confusion as Cesaro waved at them and made his way out of the room and up the stairs.

"What just happened?" Xavier asked Daniel. "Does he… not remember going to the ceremony?" Daniel did not answer. He simply eyed where Cesaro stood before leaving the laboratory.

On his way up the stairs, Cesaro began to hear commotion coming from what sounded like the lobby. The noises sounded much closer, however, when Cesaro closed his eyes. They sounded like voices. In fact, he could see where the voices came from and who they belonged to. It was his friends shouting in the lobby with what appeared to be military officials. He then focused on where the officials stood and saw that it was not just the ones standing in the doorway of the lobby, but also several more outside with two armored vehicles and a helicopter. He focused on the voices and listened.

"The President sent them for Claudio!" He heard Noam say to Stephanie whom was running urgently down the stairway of the lobby. "They're trying to take him away!" Cesaro furrowed his brow in confusion as he continued to listen.

"What?" He heard Stephanie shout.

"Misses McMahon." Cesaro heard one of the officials say. "We are here by order of the President to retrieve Claudio Castagnoli for questioning and trial effective immediately." Cesaro snapped his eyes open. His tried to think of why the President sent for him and wished to question him. He could think of nothing.

In the lobby, Stephanie shook her head at the official's information and turned her attention to Shane.

"Shane!" She shouted. "Why are they here now? Say something! Shane? Shane!"

Shane could hear nothing Stephanie or anyone had said from that point. He knew that everything going on was his fault and the weight of it all rendered him motionless. He knew not how to fix any of the mess he had made nor did he understand the magnitude of what he had done. All he thought about was Cesaro. Cesaro was the only one who occupied Shane's mind and it frightened him as it made him think of what might become of him and just how little he would be able to help… if Cesaro even wanted his help after what Shane had done to him. The pain of the guilt tore into his chest and ate at his lungs like debilitating cancer. Shane was torn from his trance by reality.

"I don't know why they're here." He responded before looking back to the men in front of him. "We need more time. Please. You have our word, we will send him to the President as soon as we-"

"Sir!" The official shouted. "If you do not step away then we will-"

"You'll what?" They then were all shaken from that moment by Cesaro's voice. Everyone looked to the stairway to see him standing at the top with a confused look on his face. Shane swallowed a lump. "What's the meaning of this? Why are you all here bothering my friends?" One of the officials pushed past Mojo.

"Watch it, Dude!" Mojo protested. The official looked up to Cesaro.

"Claudio Castagnoli." He began. "You are wanted by the President of the United States for questioning due to potential acts of terrorism on your behalf. We demand you come with us now." Cesaro blinked and then (much to everyone's surprise) laughed at the accusation.

"You've got to be joking!" He said. "Me? Terrorism?" The official quickly grew irritated with Cesaro's attitude.

"This is not a joking matter, Mister Castagnoli!" He shouted. "You will be coming with us with or without your cooperation." The other officials aimed their guns at Cesaro, making his friends grow tense. John Cena instinctively reached out to the closest man with a weapon.

"Hey!" He shouted. "Don't point that shit at him! He didn't do anything wrong!" Cesaro, in that moment, realized that the men in uniform did not jest. He assumed they spoke of the ceremony that had been held earlier that day, but had no memory of ever attending, much less committing such a heinous act. It confused him endlessly, but he also knew that the men would not stand down unless he accompanied them and he did not want any of his friends harmed because of his resistance. He immediately decided he would join the officials and cooperate with them. Cesaro went to tell the men he would follow along, however, he felt his psyche shift from compliance to defiance.

"No." He said, his facial features hardened as his tone. "I won't… be going anywhere." Triple H eyed Cesaro and noticed the orange flicker in his eyes that left as quickly as it came. The lead official was taken aback by the complete shift in tone and the disobedience shown by their target.

"Excuse me?" He said. He then felt a feeling in his head that felt like a heavy helmet had been forcefully staged on his crown. The other men in the room began to feel the same sensation and froze in place. Shane and Stephanie saw Cesaro furrow his brow and knew that he was using his power to not only enter the minds of the officials but control their thoughts, something he knew never to do without consent.

"I said…" Cesaro said sternly. "I won't be going anywhere." Cesaro then tilted his head to one side and the men dropped their weapons to the ground, the sounds of the guns hitting the floor ringing through the lobby. His friends then saw a faint and transparent aura begin to form around him as he continued to use his powers to control the men. "Now, you are all… going to take your vehicles… and leave. Go back to where you all came from and don't come back." Cesaro had spoken and the men all turned around, left the lobby, and entered their vehicles, leaving the mansion behind like soldiers heeding the command of a general. Becky looked outside to see the convoys leaving and then looked back.

"They're gone." She said. "They left." They all then looked at Cesaro who still stood at the top of the stairway.

"Claudio." John called out to him. They all then saw Cesaro make his way down the stairs without saying a word. His face had filled with confusion.

"What were they talking about?" Cesaro asked. "Why is the President of the United States after me?" Becky blinked as she could not believe Cesaro had no recollection of the events that transpired mere hours ago.

"You big dope!" She said. "You lost your head and blew up the stage! You don't remember any of that?"

"Rebecca." Shane said as he looked to Becky. Cesaro blinked at her.

"I did what?" He asked, genuinely confused by Becky's words. "How? I didn't even go to the ceremony. The President's confused. He's got the wrong person… Right?" It was then that Becky realized that Cesaro truly had no memory of what happened. Feeling guilty, she reached out to Cesaro.

"Claudio." She said in a consoling tone. "I'm sorry I said that." Cesaro shook his head again.

"If I didn't go…" He said. "Then why are they after me?" John stepped to his side and gently grabbed his arm.

"Claudio." He said to him. "Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this." That moment, the group heard Daniel Bryan and Xavier Woods make their way to the lobby; the two men were halted by the atmosphere of the room as they approached.

"What happened up here?" Xavier asked.

"The President sent for Claudio." Brie answered. "He sent men here to arrest him." Daniel looked shocked.

"What?" He said. "Why?" Everyone then saw Cesaro run out of the lobby and out of the mansion.

"Claudio!" John shouted as he ran after him.

"John, wait!" Nikki said, running after John. Simon looked over to Shane with slight anger.

"This is your fault." He said to Shane before leaving to join John and Nikki.

* * *

In a local hospital, Macey Estrella was being seen by one of the nurses after she and many others were involved in the incident at the ceremony. The man had been asking her questions per his protocol. However, Macey had become annoyed as the man seemed to be asking the same questions of her several times over.

"Look." Macey said. "I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but I told you I'm fine. You saw the x-rays. I don't have any cuts, bruises, or broken bones. I can move just fine. I just want to check on my friends and help make sure other people get some help." The nurse nodded.

"Ma'am." He said as he continued writing. "I understand and I personally thank you. We have everything under control here. We have emergency staff on call for situations like this." The nurse stopped writing on his clipboard and shook his head. "Shame about what happened, really. Alright, Miss Estrella. I think we have everything we need. Thank you for being so patient. You're free to go." Macey stood up out of her chair.

"Thank you, Sir." She said respectfully. "Take care of yourself." She then made her way out of the room and almost immediately ran into Travis whom had been headed down the hallway.

"Macey." He said. "You're alright. You heal quick."

"I've been through worse." Macey said to him before eying the bandage on his head. "I see they redid those head wraps."

"Yeah. When we first came in, they just gave me some temporary bandages. These are sturdier. I'm just lucky we got seen again so quickly. Rex is worse off. He has some hairline fractures in his right leg." Macey gasped.

"Oh no!" She said. "Can I see him?" Travis shook his head.

"They just told me they're gonna prep him for surgery." He said. "They aren't allowing anyone else to see him."

"Darn. Well, have you been to check on Sarah, Maki, or Eckers? What about Franklin?"

"Rex was the first one of us I saw. I was on my way find everyone else." Macey nodded and clasped her hands together.

"Let's check on them together." She suggested.

"Yeah." Travis agreed before pulling out his phone. "I'm gonna try and call Ronda."

* * *

General Zodrick and Ronda Rousey rode in their military convoy along with three other convoys headed towards the mansion to assist in apprehending Cesaro. Zodrick heard Ronda's phone begin to ring and saw her pull it out of her pocket. She looked at the phone and saw that it was Travis calling her. Ronda knew what he wanted to talk about but decided to ignore the call and put the phone back in her pocket. Zodrick shook his head.

"You know." He said to her. "It's truly none of my business how you deal with your personal issues, but I can say that you're gonna have to answer him eventually. He's called four times in the last three minutes." Ronda shook her head.

"I already know what he wants, Sir." She told him. "I told him already that I'd talk to him when I got home." Zodrick nodded.

"Well then, Rousey. I guess we'd better discuss it then. Are you going to keep your head leveled when we get to the mansion? We're the ones in charge and we have to be ready to make peace no matter how much we disagree with it."

Ronda took a deep breath. While she knew that taking Zodrick up on his offer meant that she would have to work against herself for the greater mission even more often than she did when she was a lower rank, Ronda did not realize just how difficult the task would be.

"Sir." She said. "I just want to bring Claudio to justice for hurting all those people and this country. Whatever that takes, I'll do." The two then heard the driver of the convoy call out to Zodrick.

"General Zodrick." The man said. "Team Bravo is headed away from the destination, Sir." Zodrick blinked.

"How do you know this?" He asked.

"They're headed down the road now, Sir. They're in eyesight."

"Well, Radio in and find out if they have Claudio!"

"Yes sir!" The man immediately pressed and held a button on the dashboard. "Bravo team. This is Alpha. What is your status?" The man did not hear a response. After waiting a moment, he repeated his request. "Bravo! This is Alpha. We need your status immediately." Again, he received no response and he began to worry. "Alpha! Come in! Alpha!" The driver saw the convoys pass him and the others.

"Something doesn't seem right." Ronda said. "I thought all the teams had orders to inform each other if they take Claudio in." Zodrick huffed and eyed the woman.

"Ready yourself, Rousey." He said to her. "We may have to get our hands dirty."

* * *

Outside the mansion, Cesaro had run to the edge of the front garden and had fallen to his knees, the confusion of what happened and why he could not remember it weighing him down physically and emotionally. He felt like he wanted to scream as he felt his powers rise uncontrollably from within him. Cesaro shut his eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm himself and his powers down, becoming so enthralled that he had not heard Stephanie call out to him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Stephanie, John, Nikki, and Simon standing a ways away from him. Cesaro looked at them with pleading eyes.

"Tell me." He pleaded to them. "Please tell me I didn't do that." John looked Cesaro in his eyes and Stephanie gave him a warm smile. Nikki, however, looked away as she was unable to see Cesaro in such a crumbled state.

"They're gonna come back." She said. "They'll be tougher than they were this time, too."

"We can handle them, Nikki." John responded. "Claudio comes first." Simon huffed mentally as he remembered what saw in the laboratory and almost went to speak on it. He held his tongue, however, instead choosing make his way over to Cesaro and help him to his feet.

"That's right." He said. "We're all gonna make sure you get better." The man grabbed Cesaro's arm to help him up. The moment Cesaro felt Simon's touch, his mind was then flooded with the other man's thoughts. One train of thought in particular stuck out to him. It felt angry and sympathetic.

"_Can we help him?_" Simon's thought said in Cesaro's mind. "_I mean, Mister and Misses Levesque, maybe, and maybe the rest of us but not Shane. No. Shane's done enough! More than enough, that bastard! None at all!_" Cesaro stopped in place as Simon walked with him towards the mansion. Feeling his movement halted, Simon looked over to Cesaro whom was staring off at the ground.

"Claudio?" Simon called out. "You alright, Man?" Stephanie, John, and Nikki looked back at the two men after Simon spoke.

"What's wrong?" John asked him. Cesaro did not respond for a moment, making everyone worry until he finally spoke.

"What do you mean, Simon?" He asked without moving. Simon furrowed his brow, unaware that the man had involuntarily read his thoughts. John and Nikki looked at Cesaro with confusion.

"What?" Simon said. Cesaro then stepped away from Simon.

"Why would you think that about Shane? You don't know him to think those things." It was then that Stephanie realized that Cesaro read Simon's mind. Simon, however, had not caught on.

"Claudio, what are you talking about?" He asked Cesaro, not knowing that the ill words in his head had been heard by the other man.

Inside the mansion, Shane and Triple H had closed themselves off in the main office on the second floor. Shane quickly pulled out his phone.

"Who are you calling?" Triple H asked.

"I need to speak with the President." Shane said frantically. "I need to know why he went back on his word." The phone rang once before the President answered the phone in a rather irritated tone, and Shane put the man on speaker so that Triple H could hear the conversation.

"Shane." He said. "Is something the matter?"

"Why did you send soldiers after Claudio?" Shane asked. "I thought you have given us time to get his mind together." The two men could hear the President sigh.

"I did say that and I truly am sorry for not honoring my word. However, this situation reaches far beyond our bond, Shane. Understand that my obligation lies to this country and I will do whatever it takes to ensure my country's safety, even if it means severing crucial ties and connections as I am doing with our connection today. I assume by your call that my men have already retrieved Claudio. Once this conversation ends, Shane, this line will be disconnected. I bid you farewell and wish all of you the best in your fight for peace." Before Shane could tell him that his soldiers in fact did not take Cesaro in, the call ended. All Shane could do was shut his eyes. Triple H was in shock as he eyed the phone.

"Did the President just cut us off?" He asked. "After everything we did for him, after putting our lives on the line to save his people and his image, he cuts us off?" Shane hung his head.

"Paul." He said. "This is my fault." Triple H eyed Shane skeptically.

"Care to explain, Shane?" He asked. Shane took a deep breath before explaining.

"It's my fault Claudio lost it at the ceremony. I tried to block Claudio's powers to give him more time to learn how to control them and I ended up doing more harm than good." Triple H shook his head.

"What do you mean you tried to block his powers?" Triple H asked angrily. "Are you telling me you went and dug in his head, Shane? I don't know shit about you telepaths, but I'm almost certain that's the only way you could have blocked his powers." Shane simply nodded, making Triple H let out an airy laugh and stroke his beard as he processed what Shane confessed.

"Paul, I know it's awful and I'm taking full responsibility for it."

"Good, because if anybody's gonna take the fall for this, it's you, Shane. Claudio did nothing wrong!"

"I know, okay!?" Shane bit his lip. "I know he did nothing wrong. I know it's my fault. I know all that. I just… I didn't know what else to do, Paul. He was getting stronger. Every time Claudio used his powers, I could feel him getting stronger. I wanted to keep us safe. I wanted him to control himself." Triple H balled up his mouth and nodded.

"Well..." He said to Shane. "You could have easily just kept him out of all those missions you sent him on, Shane." He then blinked at the man. "But you didn't. Not once did you think about maybe letting him rest or take a break or even take better precautions with him. Being honest, I don't think you dug in his head so you could help him control himself, Shane. I think you dug into his head so _you_ could control him." Triple H paused for a moment before looking back to Shane. "He doesn't even know about what you did… does he?" All Shane could do was hang his head in shame, and that gesture gave Triple H his answer. "I think he should know." With that, Triple H headed to the door to leave.

"Paul, wait!" Shane pleaded as he quickly tried to make his way to Triple H to keep him from leaving only to be pushed aside.

Cesaro, Stephanie, John, Nikki, and Simon stood outside the mansion. Stephanie reached out to him to try and calm him.

"We will work all of this out, Claudio." She pleaded. Cesaro shook his head.

"We all wanna know what's going on, Claudio." Nikki said to him. "Let's figure it out together, okay? Just come inside with us." Cesaro continued to resist their efforts to soothe his mind. In a last resort mindset, John grabbed Cesaro by the shoulders and looked him in his sienna-colored eyes.

"Claudio." John said softly. "… Please. Let us help. Okay?" Cesaro felt John's sincerity and concern slowly calm his nerves and fill him with a warm comfort that only John managed to fill him with. Cesaro nodded.

"Okay." He said to John, making the man smile.

"We'll sit down and talk." John told Cesaro before stepping aside and leading him back to the mansion, everyone else following behind them. Before they could make it back inside, however, they all saw Triple H and Shane making their way outside and stopping short of the doorway with the other Superstars behind them. Stephanie eyed the two men in front closely.

"Stephanie." Triple H called out. Stephanie heard the angered tone and immediately realized that Shane told him (and possibly everyone else) about his actions against Cesaro. She raised her hand to him as signal to silence.

"We'll talk about it inside." She said to her husband. That moment, Cesaro what sounded to him like heavy wheels driving down a paved road. He closed his eyes and followed the sound and it led him to the road right outside the mansion.

"Someone's coming." They all heard him say. John looked at him.

"What?" He said. Cesaro then turned around to see more military convoys making their way up the road. The convoys stopped a distance away from the front of the mansion and everyone saw Zodrick and Ronda exit the leading vehicle followed by several soldiers who came from the vehicles in the rear.

"Oh no." Shane said silently. "Not now." Bayley eyed the military officials with confusion.

"What are they doing here?" She asked. "Don't tell me they're here for him, too." Zodrick spoke quietly to Ronda under his breath.

"Stay armed." He said to her. "Be prepared to fire on command." Ronda nodded without changing her facial expression and Zodrick proceeded to approach the group of Superstars.

"Claudio." He called out to Cesaro before reaching his left hand out to the man. "We're not here to harm anyone, okay? We just want you to come with us so we can talk to you." John then felt his grip on Cesaro involuntarily loosen and Cesaro approached the General. Instead of shaking the man's hand, however, he stared him in the eyes. John noticed Cesaro's body language and went to try and talk to him, but was immediately stopped in his tracks as he felt a force push on his chest.

"If you're not here to harm anyone..." Cesaro said in a skeptical, slightly condescending tone. "…Then why did you come so heavily guarded?" Cesaro then gave the General a mischievous smirk. "Are you afraid of something, General?" Zodrick withdrew his hand.

"This is just a necessary precaution, Claudio." Zodrick told Cesaro, biting his tongue and maintaining his stature while the man's words cut into him like a serrated knife. Cesaro's smirk faded.

"A precaution."

"Yes, Claudio. The President felt that after what happened, we required the additional protection. Trust me, Claudio. They are only here because they were instructed to be. We mean you no harm at all." Zodrick once again reached his hand out to Cesaro. "You have my word." Cesaro looked at the man's hand and then looked him back in his eyes as if he were studying them. Cesaro then grabbed Zodrick's hand and stared at him.

"_Thank fucking god!_" Cesaro heard Zodrick think. "_I can get the hell out of here, take this crazy bastard in and make him pay what the fuck he owes! Dammit. Why is he looking at me like that?_" Cesaro's eyes slowly faded from their gentle color sienna to the blazing orange tint from before and lines of fiery golden veins began to appear on his face and arms. His mind shifted from confusion to anger and he began to squeeze Zodrick's hand.

"Your word…" Cesaro said to him. "… is a lie."

"Claudio!" Shane called out. "Let him go!" His cries fell upon deaf ears, however, as Cesaro squeezed Zodrick's hand tighter. The pain in his hand from Cesaro's hold shot up his arm and caused him to cry out.

"Fire!" Zodrick shouted.

"Zodrick, no!" Shane shouted as Ronda and the soldiers fired their weapons. Their bullets hit neither Cesaro nor anyone else, however. The bullets hit a massive wall of ice and crystal that had been thrown up by Charlotte and Brie Bella to stop them. Cesaro did not flinch, his grip on Zodrick still as tight as before. Everyone behind him witnessed the jacket he wore begin to move as if gravity had no effect on it. Then, the wall of crystal and ice shattered in front of him, though Charlotte and Brie were thrown down to the ground as if it was not their own doing. Ronda and the solders on the other side of the wall covered their faces as the shards of crystal and ice fell through and disintegrated. They all witnessed Cesaro effortlessly lift Zodrick off the ground and look him in his eyes with searing, uncharacteristic disdain. Before he could act any further, Cesaro felt his mind shift from anger to confusion. Zodrick witnessed his facial features slowly change and felt the grip on his hand loosen, wincing as the pain ran through his hand after the pressure was relieved.

"Zodrick." Cesaro called out with a softened voice. He let the man go once he realized that he was holding onto his hand and Zodrick immediately ran back to his convoy holding his injured hand.

"Retreat!" He shouted to Ronda and his men. "Now!" The soldiers withdrew their weapons, entered their vehicles, and left the mansion with a cloud of dust behind them. All of the Superstars had their eyes fixed on Cesaro who stood petrified as he looked on trying to figure out what had happened. Cesaro began to feel a tingling sensation coursing through his body. He looked down at his hands to see the flaming gold veins pulsing all over his skin and a flowing aura surrounding his arms.

"Claudio?" John Cena called out to Cesaro as he attempted to approach him while the others looked on. "It's gonna be alright, okay? We're all gonna help you." Cesaro then turned around to face John and the others, but backed away as he felt his energy begin to swell once again.

"No." He said, causing John to abruptly stop his approach. "Don't come any closer to me." Everyone looked on as the aura surrounding Cesaro became visible for a brief moment, flashing as if it were flame engulfing his body.

"Claudio." John said as he continued to approach his distraught friend until he was close enough to feel the heat of Cesaro's aura. "Remember what I told you back then. I told you I'd be here when you need me. I'm not going back on my word. I'm gonna help you, no matter what I have to do." Cesaro looked over at all of his friends and then to John.

"I… I'm afraid, John." He told him. "I don't know what's happening to me."

"Don't worry." John said. "We'll figure it out together." Cesaro's features returned to normal as he felt his energy slowly calm. The aura that once surrounded his body faded away and his eyes began to flutter slightly. "Are you okay?"

"I feel tired." Cesaro responded. John then slid himself under the man's arm to aid him in making his way into the mansion. Cesaro became fearful that he would end up forcing himself into John's mind upon touching him and tensed up immediately, but he felt no different and could hear no voices.

"Come on." John said as he helped Cesaro walk. "We're gonna get you to bed." Triple H and Simon met the two halfway and both of them helped Cesaro and John make their way inside, everyone else moving aside so they could go in.

"What the hell…" Seth said before following them in. Everyone made their way in until it was only Shane and Stephanie standing outside, both of their gazes fixed on where everything happened. The earth that had been kicked by all of the commotion, the tire marks still left behind on the road leading off the compound… all of it remained fresh in their heads and what to make of it was just as far from their reach as ever. It was Stephanie who broke the moment of silence between them.

"Shane." She said to her brother. "Somehow… Some way... We're going to have to fix this." Stephanie then turned around and made her way inside, leaving Shane by his lonesome. The man eyed a spot in the grass where Cesaro stood; it had been flattened and was slightly charred from the energy he emitted. The feeling of guilt that had not left him since he revealed his actions grew ever the heavier as he visualized Cesaro standing there. He could still see the feeling of fear and borderline helplessness in his face as John pleaded with him. Shane tried to shake the image out of his head.

"How?"

* * *

The military convoy carrying General Zodrick and Ronda sped down the road on the way to the nearest medical facility so that Zodrick's wounded hand could be properly addressed. The man held his hand as it continued to painfully throb.

"It's gonna be alright, Sir." Ronda said, doing her best to console her leader. She quickly turned her attention to the driver. "Hurry up! How much longer?"

"I'm going as fast as the convoy will go, Major General!" The driver responded over the roaring of the wheels on the asphalt. "The hospital's another ten miles away!" Zodrick groaned in pain as the convoy went over a pothole that caused the cabin to bounce. He then pulled out his phone with his functioning right hand and began to call the President. Ronda then instinctively reached for the phone, fearing Zodrick may inadvertently do more damage to his left hand.

"Sir!" She said to him. "Let me do it for you."

"I'll be fine, Rousey." Zodrick hissed at her as he dialed. The leader of the country picked up the phone and immediately noticed the noise of the road roaring through the cabin.

"General?" The President over the phone. "What is all that commotion?"

"Sir!" Zodrick said. "We were attacked by Castagnoli! I was wounded while trying to apprehend him!"

"What!? Zodrick, are you alright?"

"I believe my left hand is broken, but no one else was harmed! I'm having our convoy medivac me to the nearest hospital as we speak!"

"Keep me informed of your status! Tell all other convoys to return immediately along with Major General Rousey!"

"Yes sir!" The call ended and Zodrick threw the phone on the seat next to him before turning to Ronda. "Rousey! You're going back with the rest of the group after you take me to the hospital!"

"But Sir!" She said in slight protest. "What about you?"

"I'm a grown man, Rousey! I'll be fine! The President asked specifically for you to return, so you're going!" Ronda balled up her mouth and nodded.

"Yes sir!" she said. Ronda had been so involved in looking after Zodrick that she neglected to notice her phone had been going off after receiving several messages and calls from her husband.

* * *

Travis sat in his hotel room alone, his mind worn out from worrying about his wife after calling and messaging her with no response. He had called her once more to only receive the same result – being sent to her voicemail. Travis sighed as he listened to the voicemail greeting once more.

"This is Ronda." He heard the voice recording say. "Sorry I couldn't make it to the phone right now. Leave a message and I'll get back to you." Once Travis heard the beep, he began speaking in a tired voice.

"Ronda." He said. "I don't know what's going on with you or anything you're involved in right now, but please just… call me and let me know you're alright. Please." He hung up the phone and threw it on the bed next to him before running his hands over his head, being careful as to not disturb the medical dressing around his wound.

"Where the fuck are you!?"


	10. No Matter, No Mind

The President waited at his desk patiently for Ronda to meet with him after receiving word that Zodrick's team had finally made it to the building. It was not long until the Major General made her way into the office.

"You sent for me, Mister President?" Ronda asked respectfully. The Commander in Chief nodded.

"Indeed I did, Rousey." He said before standing up from his seat. "I'm sure you are aware that I have ties with the McMahons and their efforts to support Alpha Human-kind. Because of this, many of my cabinet members have turned on me through resignation and retirement. Only Zodrick stands by me in power now." He began to walk around his desk to stand in front of Ronda. "I trust Zodrick's trust in you. He told me that out of everyone he scouted and researched, you showed the most potential… which is why I'm sure he briefed you on Project Aegis." Ronda blinked. She recalled Zodrick mentioning the President sending him out to find a leader for a project he had been working on since the incident with Bray Wyatt and the other Alpha Humans several months ago, but could not recall a name or any details.

"General Zodrick did mention a project before asking me to join him here." She replied. "He didn't give me any details on it, however." The President nodded.

"Then I think it is time we talk about it." He said. The President then pressed a button on his watch and walked over to the section of the massive bookcase closest to the door of the office. Ronda watched him as he pulled on one of the books and the bookcase opened up to reveal a secret passageway. "Come with me." He walked into the passageway and Ronda followed behind him. He pressed the button on his watch again and the bookcase entrance closed behind them. Ronda looked back after hearing the noise of the metal door closing and locking then turned her attention back to her Commander in Chief as they continued down the dark, metal corridor. Before long, Ronda began hearing sounds of clanging metal, machinery, and the constant chatter of men. It was a collection of sounds she knew quite well having served over a decade in the military. The two of them then exited the corridor and stepped onto a metal bridge that was protected by a bulletproof glass encasement. Below them, Ronda saw that they had entered what appeared to be a massive armory full of men and women working on various pieces of armor and weaponry. It reminded her of one of her old camps from when she deployed overseas, only it was heavily decorated with technology she could not even begin to recognize.

"Sir." She began, seemingly overwhelmed by what she saw. Before she could continue her thought, the President spoke to her.

"Rousey." He said. "Do you know what the word 'aegis' means?" Ronda thought a moment.

"Protection, Sir." She answered.

"That's right. Protection." The President then made his way across the bridge. "In Greek Mythology, it is what a breastplate that was worn by the gods to protect them from harm was called. It was the greatest of armors, breakable by no means. This was the motto we held when we designed this place. Russia, Germany, China… us four nations all agreed to combine our resources and research to come up with a means of protecting all humans should someone the likes of Windham Rotunda. We needed the protection of the gods, from the gods themselves." The man stopped his march. "We gathered our greatest scientists and found that Alpha Human powers come from a gene mutation traced down to their DNA. With this, we were able to extend our research into creating what you're seeing now. Armor able to withstand a nuclear blast from weapons able to generate a nuclear blast, all of which is able to be used by regular humans like you and I."

"So that's what all this is?" Ronda asked as she eyed the facility below her. "Protection?"

"That's right." The President. "Russia's preemptive research after encountering an Alpha Human who could turn themselves into diamond lent to most what you see. Mere months of collaboration brought about this facility." The President then began walking once again. "Project Aegis is our combined efforts to implement this equipment into a separate, emergency armed force once we have completed the first round of production." The two then came to a large metal door with an electric pad near it. The President walked up to the pad and placed his entire right hand on it.

"Welcome, President Williams." The machine said before slowly opening the doors to reveal what looked like a large chamber holding a single pod in the middle of its confines. He and Ronda walked into the room and the doors closed behind them.

"What is this, Sir?" Ronda asked. The President smiled.

"This…" He began. "This is Zodrick's idea. He believed that a critically powerful force needed an equally powerful commander. Zodrick felt that Project Aegis needed a commander to lead these forces should the time arise. He pitched us the idea of creating technology designed especially to lead Aegis in combat, defense, and intel." The President entered a series of keys on the keypad of the pod and opened it to reveal what appeared to be a watch. Though its appearance seemed simplistic, Ronda knew that with everything else she saw in the hidden facility and everything the President told her, it was anything but. "With this device, one can not only communicate with anyone wearing Aegis gear but also generate a host of technology from weapons to armor, all comprised from pure electromagnetic energy created using Alpha Human research. Only two people on this planet know how to use this: its creator and General Zodrick. Unfortunately, the creator of this device passed due to illness sometime after it was finished." Ronda grew weary.

"Sir?" Ronda asked. "What if something happens to General Zodrick?" The President nodded.

"He wanted to be the one to lead Aegis." He told her. "But I suppose that something inside him knew that he wouldn't be in service much longer. He proposed the search for his replacement to me and I admitted to my initial reluctance before assigning the task to him. For a month, he scouted potential replacements after my cabinet collapsed and then, he fell upon your profile. He saw your achievements and your accolades while in the service and decided that he wanted you to replace him when he retires."

Ronda was floored by the President's words. While Zodrick had briefly mentioned finding a replacement for himself, she had not thought about herself being that replacement as she knew the chain of command and what needed to happen in order for that to take place. Ronda then thought about everything she saw in the facility. The weapons, the armor, the device in the pod in front of her, all would soon be under her command. Ronda then felt the President's hand on her shoulder.

"With everything that's happened with Claudio Castagnoli thus far…" He started. "I fear I may have to expedite Project Aegis. Sadly, as loyal a friend as he is to me, I don't feel that General Zodrick is up for the task of leading such a key component of the world's defensive force. He is getting older and his time to stand down from his post is quickly approaching. Both he and I know this, though he isn't as willing to accept it as I am. Major General Rousey, consider this… my official motion to appoint you as leader of Project Aegis and my personal request for you to accept as soon as possible so that we may begin training the recruits." Though the President's explanation was almost too much for Ronda to process, her dutiful mindset told her to respond without a second thought about what the position meant for her.

"I humbly accept, Mister President." She said to her leader.

"I knew that you would." The President replied with a nod. "Are you sure you don't want to give it a bit more thought, however? I realize that all of these changes are happening rather quickly for you. I would hate for all of this to put your personal life under stress." It was only than that Ronda thought about her husband Travis and what he might have thought about such a position of grandeur.

"You don't have to worry, Sir." She said. "This country and its safety is more important."

"Are you sure you wish to accept the position without consulting your husband, Major General?" Ronda nodded.

"He will understand, Sir." The President nodded and then stepped away from Ronda before turning back to face her.

"While I admire your passion and dedication to our nation," He began. "… Please allow me to speak not as your leader, but as a man who once had a loving, caring wife with passion that rivaled my own. As admirable a choice as it is, do not allow all of your passion and drive to be consumed by your duties to your country. You'll have none of it left to offer to what truly matters to you."

The words of the President made Ronda think once more about Travis waiting back in their hotel room for her.

* * *

The night had begun to fall and Macey Estrella arrived at her hotel after taking Travis to his hotel a few blocks away. She pulled out her key card and opened the door to her hotel room. Her mind told her to undress and relax after being given a clean bill of health, but Sami's and her brief conversation after the conference took up more mental real estate.

_"I just wanted to say thank you for standing up to her for Claudio." He said._

_ "Don't thank me for that. Our Commander in Chief is right. He needs to answer to this, but he's still a human no matter what happened today. I just… did what I felt was right."_

_ "I know." He said to her before shutting his eyes. "…and I know why." _

His last four words to her rung through her head like resounding church bells calling her to the truth. Macey pulled out her phone and looked at Sasha's number; she had given it to her to call when she was ready to train to become a wrestler. As she eyed it then, however, Macey felt like calling for something else.

"_Sami probably already told everyone_." Macey thought to herself despite Sami telling her that he would not say a word. Her thumb hovered over the Call button visible on the screen for a moment before pulling it away and swiping upward to return to the home screen. She then slid her phone back in her pocket. Macey then thought to herself before cursing aloud.

"Dammit." She said as she pulled her phone back out of her pocket and held down the main button. "Sara, how far is the Safe Haven Mansion in Connecticut from here?" The phone beeped twice before responding to what Macey asked of it.

"The Safe Haven Mansion is five hours and thirty-three minutes from your current location." The phone said. Macey sighed before speaking again.

"Take me to the Safe Haven Mansion in Connecticut." She said. The phone beeped once before opening up its navigation application. Macey then placed her phone on the dresser next to her and began to gather her things out of the cabinet.

* * *

Travis found himself fidgeting with his phone the entire time since Macey dropped him off at Ronda and his hotel room. He had called Ronda a countless number of times trying to reach her and he grew more worried each time he called without an answer. He left her voice messages, text message, and even sent her a video message so she could see how worried he was (something she had done in the past while he was away on one of his training missions), but still received no reply. He was about to call her once more before he saw that Macey was calling him.

"What's up, Macey?" He answered.

"Travis." Macey said on the other side. "I'm headed up to see the McMahons in Connecticut in case the others get out and ask where I am before I come back down."

"What're you going up there to see them for?" Travis heard Macey sigh.

"I just wanted to talk to them about something." She replied. "That's all."

"Alright then. I'll spread the word." Travis then thought briefly. "Hey, have you heard from Ronda? I've been trying to reach her all day and I haven't been able to get anything from her, not even a text."

"Lord, you'd think after what happened earlier that I'd be the last person she'd wanna reach out to. Hell, I'd think you'd be the first she'd reach out to. Sorry, I haven't hear anything from her." The small bit of hope Travis had that somehow Ronda had spoken to Macey about where she was suddenly dashed in front of him and he began to worry once again.

"Alright then." He said.

"If I hear anything from her… " Macey said after hearing the defeat in Travis's voice. "… you'll be the first person I call."

"Thanks, Macey. Drive safe."

"Always do." With that, Travis ended the call and ran his hand over his head, being careful not to disturb the bandages around it. Between the wound on his head, worrying about Ronda and thinking about his comrades still hospitalized after the incident at the ceremony, he was not given a moment of relief from the constant headache. It had gotten so intense that he had not heard the beep of the hotel room lock disengaging. What he did hear, however, was the door opening and he immediately perked up as he knew it could only be one person. He all but ran to the door to see Ronda closing the door behind her. The two locked eyes and Travis nearly shouted.

"Ronda." He said. "What the hell!? I've been trying to call you and make sure you were okay! You left with Zodrick and didn't say a word to any of us."

"Travis, I'm sorry." Ronda replied, her tone suggesting that she had not processed what Travis had said to her or his own tone of voice. "I have a lot of stuff on my mind."

"What happened?"

"I… can't tell you everything, but-."

"What do you mean you can't tell me everything?" Travis snapped back. "You most certainly can tell me everything. In fact, I think you _should_ tell me everything so I'm not as upset with you as I am right now." Ronda blinked.

"Excuse me?" Travis balled up his mouth and then sat down in one of the chairs in the sitting area, Ronda's eyes following him every step of the way.

"I don't know what's going with you anymore." Travis said to her. "You used to tell me everything, no matter how 'secret' it was supposed be. I've never kept anything from you except when I got the mission to fly into space and even then, I planned on telling you everything about it after I got back before you got pushed up rank and found out through that. You don't tell me anything anymore, especially since you made Major General, which you still haven't explained to me how since you were just Lieutenant Colonel, like, three weeks ago." Ronda shook her head.

"Where is all this coming from, Trav?" She asked with slight irritation. "You already know how my job works. I can't tell you everything no matter much I want to. I could compromise missions and security."

"That's the thing, Ronda. It's always been that way. When we first met, your work made it so you weren't able to tell me everything… but you did anyway. You trusted me to keep those secrets and I did, just as much as I trusted you to keep mine when I finally got hired on the main team and had to swear in. I told you everything because I trusted you. I asked you to marry me because I promised not to hurt you or keep secrets from you. I trusted you to do the same. Now, it's like… "

"Don't say it, Travis." Ronda said in a painful tone, unable to take any more of his outpour. Travis bit down to stifle the pain his next words would bring him.

"It's like work's gotten more important than me." He said to Ronda. "Than us."

"That's not fair." Ronda said. "I got thrown into all of this, Travis. I didn't ask for any of it."

"I know that, Ronda… but you didn't turn it down either."

"Travis, how could I? How could I turn down a four-star General's request? How could I turn down a request from the President of the United States? I have obligations to this country." Hearing the word 'obligations' seemed to push a button in Travis that caused him to anger slightly.

"Yeah, well also have obligations to me, too." He said. "Hell, I'm your husband! After everything that happened today, what made it okay for you not to return any of my calls or texts? What made it okay to not tell me you were okay, huh?" At her wit's end with listening to Travis's complaints, Ronda threw her hands up.

"I can't with this right now, Travis." Ronda said. "Not with this headache I've got, okay? Not right now." Her words had cut Travis through his heart and down to his back nodded as he bit his bottom lip.

"Sorry to bother you, Major General." He said painfully as he fought back a tear. He then stood up and grabbed one of his bags and started for the door.

"Travis." Ronda called out to him. "Where are you going?" He did not respond to her. Instead, he took his room key out of his pocket and left it on the kitchen counter. "Travis? Answer me." He turned back to her with a look of pain in his eyes.

"I don't know who you are…" He said as a tear slowly rolled down his face. "… But you tell my wife, Ronda, to call me when she's ready to come back home to me." With that, Travis opened the hotel room door and walked out.

"Trav!?" Ronda shouted at the door. "Travis, look. I know you're outside the door, alright? I'm sorry. I really am. We'll talk about all this tonight. Just come back inside." She did not hear a response from him on the other side of the door, so she stood up and looked out of the peephole. When she saw that Travis, in fact, was not standing outside, she quickly swung the door and looked down both ends of the hall to see if she could see him. Ronda began to worry when she found no trace of him. She stepped back into their room, quickly grabbed her phone then dialed his number to call him. Before she could send the call, however, she received a call from General Zodrick. Seeing the man's name on her phone made her heart skip a beat as she knew, though she was deeply concerned for her husband, she had to answer it. She tapped the screen.

"Yes sir?" She said.

"Ronda." Zodrick called out. Hearing him say her first name instead of using her title gave Ronda cause for concern. "The nurses just finished seeing me about my hand. I won't need surgery to repair it. They'll simply give me a stabilizer to keep it from moving too much so that it can heal. I'll need to not use it for about three months so it heal properly." While Zodrick's revelation was to be expected, it still gave Ronda pause.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Sir." She said.

"Don't be. At least it isn't broken like we thought it was at first." Ronda heard Zodrick sigh over the phone. "I'm going to be out of action for a while… longer than I wanted, but just as long as I thought. Rousey, once I'm released from this place, I'll need to see you as soon as possible. There's something we need to discuss." She was uncertain, but Ronda felt she knew what Zodrick wanted to discuss with her.

"Absolutely, Sir." She responded.

"I should be released tomorrow." Zodrick told her. "They are likely going to keep me overnight. I will contact you as soon as I leave, so keep your phone near you."

"Yes, Sir." The call ended and Ronda thought about Zodrick's voice. It almost sounded sorrowful to her, as if it pained him to say that he would be away from work. She then thought about what the President told her earlier that day about Zodrick not necessarily wanting to step down from his position and her suspicions began to feel true. Ronda's mind tore away from the call and reverted back to her husband and trying to figure out where he went. She went to call Rex to see if he heard anything, forgetting that Rex was still under hospital care with the rest of her friends. Ronda dialed Rex's number and the call went directly to voicemail.

"What the hell?" She cursed to herself. "Why's Rex's phone off?" She then went to call Maki and was handed the same result. Ronda then had no alternative but to attempt to call Travis himself, though she knew that he would not answer her call. She dialed her husband's number and the phone rung twice before being sent to voicemail. Ronda shut her eyes and spoke once she heard the sound.

"Travis." Ronda said. "Please come back, okay? We need to talk about this. Call me." She ended the call and laid back as she tried to process everything that had happened throughout the day, the thought of it all exhausting her to where she fell asleep almost instantly.

In the hotel parking lot, Travis sat in his car staring at his phone, still heartbroken and angry about their disagreement on how oblivious Ronda was to how she was changing. He desperately wanted to call Maki for advice but knew that she was still unable to answer, so he simply shut off his phone, turn the car on, and drive off as he listened to the rain begin to fall. With no destination in mind, Travis simply drove around the city in an attempt to clear through the mess in his mind.


	11. Stay Out of My Mind

The Safe Haven mansion was quiet after the events that occurred earlier that day involving Cesaro and the team led by General Zodrick. John and Nikki Cena had helped Cesaro to his room so that he could rest, the latter falling to sleep the moment his body made contact with his bed. John's feeling of worry had not left him since he saw his friend standing in the front yard of the mansion with a helpless and fearful look on his face. He knew something was wrong, but he somehow knew he could do nothing to help. Nikki gently grabbed John's arm, causing him to look over into her soft brown eyes.

"He's gonna be okay, John." She said to her husband. "We'll help him figure out what's going on with him." John looked back to Cesaro as he slept peacefully.

"Yeah." John said. "We will." With that, the couple stepped out of the room to meet Stephanie, Triple H, and Sami whom were waiting outside Cesaro's room.

"He fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed." Nikki told them. Triple H nodded.

"Hopefully that means he'll be sleeping for a while." He said. "Now, let's go get this over with." Stephanie sighed silently as she looked back at the main office down on the other end of the hallway. John then closed Cesaro's bedroom door and the five of them headed to the office. Inside, everyone in the mansion waited patiently for them to come in, with Shane standing at the end of the desk behind him. Sami carefully closed the office doors behind him and Shane took a deep breath.

"I, um…" Shane hesitated as he tried to find the words to explain himself to his friends and family. "I owe all of you an explanation." His statement made those in the room who knew nothing about what happened look at him with confusion. Shane looked at all of their faces before continuing. "When we agreed to work with the President to keep our country safe and out of harm's way, we all did so with our minds in a good place. We all wanted to help. I saw that, and it made me feel like I had finally done something worth being proud of. I was proud of all of you for stepping into the fire and fighting to make Alpha Humans be seen in a brighter and more positive light. I wanted to do more. I wanted us to be seen more, so we worked to aid with more missions. Some of them put us at more risk than I intended, but you all supported the cause. You supported me. Claudio supported me… he supported all of us, really." Shane paused a brief moment to assess everyone in the room before continuing.

"After the California mission," He continued. "Claudio came directly to me asking me to help him with a problem he'd been having with headaches. He put himself into a mental stasis and allowed me to step into his mind…" Shane hesitated a bit, causing everyone to grow concerned. "… I saw exactly what I expected. All of his emotions, his pain, his suffering, his loneliness… it was all causing Claudio to lose control of his powers. So, I did what I thought was best. I used my own power to put up mental barriers shielding him from all those painful thoughts and feelings so he could regain control of himself. Once he woke up, his headaches were gone and he seemed like himself again." Cesaro's fellow Superstars tried to comprehend what it was that they heard. John, however, knew exactly what everything Shane said meant.

"Except he wasn't." He said, causing everyone's eyes to fall upon her.

"John." Nikki said to him.

"He was distant when he used to hang with all of us. He was quiet when he used to tell us everything. We'd ask if he was okay and he never had an answer. Claudio wasn't alright, Shane. Claudio was hurting. I know you meant well, but instead of encouraging him to maybe talk to some of us about it so we could help him find out what was really going on, you shut all that out of his head. You didn't help him at all, Shane. You just put a mask over it." Without a word, everyone turned back to Shane as if they awaited a response to John's accusations. They did not have to wait long.

"You're right, John." Shane said. "I chained those emotions down and shut them away so he didn't have to worry about them until I felt he was ready. I wanted him to be able to face those demons without having to worry about accomplishing missions or supporting us with anything. I wanted him to focus on himself for once and not us." It was Sami who spoke out next.

"Shane." He said, the pain in his voice blatantly audible. "Didn't you think about what tampering with thoughts would do to someone as mentally powerful as Claudio? I mean, you and Stephanie are the greatest telepaths in the world that I know and , according to you, he's stronger than both of you. You told me and Catherine that altering thoughts could damage a person's memory, so why would you try that with Claudio? What made him different?"

"I know, Rami." Shane said.

"If you knew that, Shane…" Sasha Banks started. "… If you knew you were risking hurting him, then why would you even attempt to block anything in Claudio's mind?"

"Everyone, please." They all could hear the slight agitation in Shane's voice after having to answer for his actions several times over. "I just wanted to make sure he was alright. I knew that because he's a telepath, the chances of doing harm were lower than normal, so I-"

"For fuck's sake, Shane!" Triple H blurted out, having grown tired of the seemingly endless explanation. "Just tell everyone why you _really_ dug into Claudio's mind, Shane. You were afraid of him. You feared him and his powers, so you tried blocking them out. You put up those barriers so that you were the prominent figure in his head. You did that so he'd always come back to you because you'd be the only one he remembered could 'help' him. You were trying to control him yourself until you found out that you couldn't." Shane then made his way to Triple H and pointed directly at him.

"That is not true, Paul!" Shane snapped back.

"Prove it otherwise then, Shane. Why risk damaging Claudio's mind by putting up those barriers instead of just talking to him like a regular person? Why keep putting them up if you know they didn't work the first or the second time?"

"Enough!" Stephanie shouted, getting everyone's attention. "… That's enough. This meeting's over. Everyone, please step out and tend to your day without disturbing Claudio. Paul? You and Shane stay." Everyone filed out of the room until only Stephanie, Shane, and Triple H remained. Stephanie closed the door behind them and turned to her husband and brother.

"Steph, I-" Shane began before being halted by his sister.

"No, Shane." She started. "What's done is done. We need to figure out what's going on with Claudio and how we can help him fix it."

"What do we do?" Triple H asked. "We damn sure can't dive into his head again."

"We can talk to him about whatever's going on, Paul. He's just like us. He's still a human and he's still our friend. We shouldn't be treating him any different." Shane shook his head.

"Claudio is different, Stephanie. " He said to them in a melancholy tone. "He has the power to bring the whole world from the brink of death with a single thought. If what happened during the space mission is true, he survived impact with a solar flare. He's not just like us, Stephanie. He's stronger than us… all of us. He has the power end us all anytime he wanted. We can't make the same mistake we made with Windham. We have to stop this before it gets out of hand, Stephanie. We need to find a way to get him under control." Stephanie shook her head.

"Invading his mind isn't the way to do that, Shane." She told him.

"I wasn't invading his mind, Steph."

"What would you call it then? You putting up mental barriers and walls over certain parts so that he didn't have access to them, but you did… that sounds like invasion to me and likely everyone else." Shane, having no rebuttal, silenced and sat down on the office desk.

"What do you think we should do, Steph?" Triple H asked.

"The only thing we have left is to tell Claudio everything and try and help him understand all of it."

"We can't tell him, Stephanie." Shane protested. "If he finds out, he'll-"

"He'll what?" Triple H intervened. "Kill you? You've all but asked for it at this point."

"Enough, you two." Stephanie said. "There's no other way we're going to handle this. It doesn't matter what we think he's capable of doing. He's still one of us. He's still our friend. We're going to sit him down and explain to him everything you did, Shane, and then we're going to help him figure out what's wrong with him and we're doing it _without_ delving into his psyche." Shane went to protest again, but Stephanie halted him. "It's not up for debate, Shane. This is the only chance we have to do the right thing with Claudio. We're the only family he has and I'll be damned if we leave him with on one to trust because of a bunch of misunderstandings. No more digging in his head, no more lying to him. This is it." Stephanie shifted her hair from one side to the other and headed for the office entrance. "I'm going to go check on Claudio and make sure he's still resting. If he is, then we'll wait until he's awake and well enough."

"I'll come with you." Triple H said before following his wife out of the office. Shane followed behind them without saying a word.

In his room, Simon Miller sat on his bed waiting for the person he was calling to answer the phone.

"What's up, Simon?" It was Paige. "I'm at Mom and Dad's."

"Saraya." Simon said as calmly as he could. "The McMahons are crazy!"

"Well, I told you that a long time ago."

"No, I'm saying it's legitimately mental here. I've only been here a day and your friend Claudio blew up a metro, the military has been here to the mansion twice, and Shane tells us he's been rummaging around in Claudio's head trying to get his powers in check, which I think is a load of bollocks."

"Simon, Simon." Paige said. "Give me a minute and let me step outside." Simon heard Paige tell her parents that she was stepping out to the backyard to take the call and then heard her make her way to her destination. "Okay, look. Calm down, alright? I saw what happened at that ceremony because Pamela posted something about it on her blog and a bunch of people commented on it, but I swear I had no idea that stuff with Shane was going on."

"I figured you didn't, Saraya." Simon said. "That's why I'm telling you." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Saraya, I'm a little worried. What if he tries to dig in my head, too? I don't think I can deal with that."

"Simon, chill." Paige said to him. "He's not gonna dig in your head. No one wants to dig in your head. Not even you want to dig in your head."

"Yeah, yeah. It doesn't seem like Stephanie has anything to do with it. In fact, she's pretty pissed off about it. I don't know what's gonna happen, but I don't think I want any part of it."

"Do you wanna come home? I can come get you tomorrow."

"No, Saraya. It's fine. Just… this isn't exactly what I came here for."

"Listen." She said to him. "Just ride it out and if it starts to get too crazy, just come on home. Okay?"

"Don't say anything to your mum about any of this." Simon told her. "I don't want her to worry about me being over here. Alright, gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, bye." Paige said before Simon ended the call and put his phone on the charger next to him. He then heard Stephanie, Shane, and Triple H headed down his hallway. He could not hear every word that they said, but he did manage to hear Triple H mention Cesaro's name and he concluded that they stopped by his room before coming down to the bottom floor. Simon then heard Stephanie mention himself as their voices drew closer and he straightened himself up preparing to see them stop by his room. As expected, the trio stopped at his room.

"Simon." Triple H said. "We want to apologize for everything that's been happening since you got here. We promise it is not always like this."

"It's alright, Mister Levesque." Simon said with a smile. "What's a family without a bit of chaos every now and then?" Shane and Stephanie looked at each other.

"Well." Stephanie said to Simon after turning her attention back to him. "We would like for you to stay and tell us more about your powers, Simon, but we understand if all of this a bit too much right now." Simon shook his head in protest.

"No, not at all. I mean, Saraya did send me here, but I came because I wanted to know more about my Alpha Human self."

"Wonderful. We can start working with you tomorrow morning. Would that work for you?"

"Absolutely, Miss Levesque." Simon responded.

"Looking forward to it." Triple H said. "We'll see you tomorrow morning." With that, the trio left Simon alone in his room.

"Actually, guys." Shane started as they made their way down the hallway. "I'm going to lay my head down and sleep, if you don't mind. I'm a bit exhausted." Triple H gave Shane a skeptical look.

"We all are, Shane." He retorted. Immediately sensing the tension, Stephanie spoke.

"It's fine, Paul." She diverted. "You and I can work on making calls and balancing books." Stephanie then gave Shane an emotionless stare. "Get some sleep, Shane. We'll work on meeting the President about Claudio tomorrow." The couple continued making their way downstairs and left Shane to himself.

Once the two were out of his eyesight, Shane headed down the hallway and up the stairs to the next floor where his room was. He stopped, however, at the closed door to Cesaro's room. Shane eyed the door as the feelings he felt after seeing his friend fend off General Zodrick and his team resurfaced and, unable to fight the urge, he opened the door to see Cesaro still sleeping on his bed. Shane beheld his features; Cesaro had a peaceful and serene look to him as he slept. The longer Shane stood watch over the man, the greater his feeling of guilt became. He then remembered seeing the Mind Stone embedded in Cesaro's astral presence and the unusual energy surrounding it. A combination of that memory and the one of the man's actions earlier that day reignited Shane's fear of Cesaro losing control of his powers and his determination not to allow that to happen. Before he could think any further, Shane heard John Cena's voice call out behind him.

"Shane?" He said, making the other man turn to look at him. "Is Claudio gonna be alright?" Shane looked back at Cesaro then faced John once again.

"I don't know, John." Shane said. John shook his head.

"I won't beat you up any more than you've already been beat up because you know you were wrong. I just hope Claudio's gonna be okay." Shane sighed.

"I do, too." Shane then thought of Sami Zayn. "John, is Rami still here?"

"Yeah." John replied. "I think he's in the library."

"Thanks, John." Shane turned for the library, John eying him as he made his way down the hallway. Shane stepped inside the library and immediately saw Sami sitting by his lonesome reading a book.

"Rami?" Shane called out, unsure of just how to approach the man. Sami looked up from his book to see Shane and his face almost instantly twisted.

"Hi Shane." Sami responded.

"Can I talk to you a moment?"

"Sure."

"…In my room?" Sami then knew that Shane wanted to discuss something he wanted no one else to hear and it began to worry him. Without a word, Sami closed his book and stood up to go with Shane to his room. After reaching his room, Shane stepped in and sat on the bed while Sami stood hesitantly in the doorway.

"Come in, Rami." Shane said, inviting the other man in. Sami complied, closing the door behind him and opting to sit in the chair at the desk

"Is everything okay, Shane?" Sami asked. Shane waited a moment before answering.

"Rami… " Shane started in a hushed voice. "I need your help with Claudio." Sami blinked.

"What do you mean?" He asked. "What are planning?"

"When you said Claudio changed after the rescue mission, you were right. He has changed. I think he still is changing." Sami looked at Shane with confusion.

"Into what?" He asked.

"I… don't know. There's something in Claudio's psyche that wasn't there until several months ago. I don't know what it is or how it got there, but it's what I've been trying to keep away from him."

"Does Claudio know about it?"

"I don't know. I want to say he does." Sami then thought of something.

"Shane." He said. "What if it's just Claudio's power maturing and materializing?" Shane shook his head.

"I don't think that's it, Rami." He said. "It that were the case, it would have been present in some way for far longer than it has been."

"Well, maybe it was and we just didn't see it." Shane sighed.

"Rami." He said. "I have a feeling that what Claudio absorbed into him out in space was no solar flare. I saw something in his mind that looked like it didn't belong, and I haven't seen it until he returned from the mission. I think that's what's causing him to lose control of his powers… and of himself."

Sami sat in silence for a moment as he took in Shane's theory. Seeing Cesaro return to the shuttle unharmed after seeing him explode with the repair team's shuttle gave him the feeling that it was indeed not a solar flare, but none of them could truly explain what it was so the theory stuck in his brain without explanation. With all the strange happenings that had occurred afterwards, however, Sami knew that he was right for thinking that Cesaro absorbed not a solar flare, but something else. Something inconceivable to them or anyone else. Understanding Shane's concern more, Sami realized the one way Shane would be able to see for certain.

"Shane." Sami said. "Please don't tell me you're thinking of going into Claudio's mind again." Shane looked away from him, confirming his suspicions. "Shane. You can't."

"There's no other way, Rami." Shane said. "The problem with Claudio lies in his mind. If we can get rid of it ourselves or at least block it out until he can deal with, then maybe Claudio can return back to normal." Sami thought to himself about Shane's suggestion. Shane then pleaded with him again. "Rami. You saw it. You saw what happened to him out there. It won't get any better. Think about it what happened several months ago with Windham. Think about the Earthquake mission in California. None of us have any clues about just how far Claudio's power reaches and something tells me that Claudio doesn't know either. If he loses complete control of his powers, then he could very well end us all. If we have a chance to keep that from happening… if we can do something to contain him… don't you think we should?" Sami thought hard on the word 'contain' before attempting to respond.

"Shane, I…" He hesitated. "I don't even know what I can do to help. I can enter people's minds, yeah, but I can't change anything once I'm there."

"No you can't." Shane said. "You can, however, lend me your powers to help me reach him from here." Sami sighed, his mind filling with doubt and concern.

"What are you trying to do, Shane?" He asked Shane. "What even can you do?"

"If I can recreate the bonds that I put up before with some added reinforcements, then maybe it will help Claudio find out what's wrong for himself and help him deal with it on his own." Sami knew that Shane's idea went against his wishes along with everyone else's, but not knowing what was wrong with Cesaro and what that meant for their safety ultimately gave him no moral alternative but to help Shane.

"Alright." Sami said. "I'll help, but you have to promise me that you won't hurt Claudio. We have to stop the moment you get a feeling he could be in pain."

"You have my word." Shane replied. Sami looked down at his feet before responding.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Just open your mind to me. I'll do the rest. Claudio should still be asleep, so reaching him should be quick and easy."

"Okay." Sami took a deep breath and allowed Shane into his mind, giving the man access to his psychic energy so that he could telepathically reach a still-sleeping Cesaro. Shane then felt his body become weightless as he began searching for Cesaro's astral presence. He felt a familiar presence nearby and knew it was him. He focused and sure enough, it was Cesaro; his power commanded respect and awe even while resting. As Shane psychically approached Cesaro, however, he felt another energy that he did not recognize. He was certain it was the other power source he knew existed inside his friend, but it felt different somehow. Shane then heard Sami call out to him in the outer realm.

"Shane?" Sami said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Shane replied physically. "It just took a little longer to reach him. I'm here now. Just a bit more and I'll be done." Shane then pointed his attention back to Cesaro's conscious and proceeded to enter the man's mind. He saw the blues, violets, and pinks he recognized from all mental capacities, but then immediately noticed the pulsing ambers that radiated through them. The vibrant lights showed what looked like cracks within the blues and Shane saw them as the targets he needed to address. He focused his mental energy on several of the cracks and proceeded to place mental bindings over them, making sure to leave behind enough energy for them to hold. When he finished with his task, he moved further into Cesaro's mind to find other cracks in it that he needed to bind. Shane then saw the hues in the man's conscious fade away as he trekked deeper. The pulse of light that followed lit up the area and revealed to Shane what was behind the darkness. The light beamed through a swirling red mass in front of him and lit up the walls around him showing the array of cracks in it that looked like lightning amongst rain clouds in the night sky. Shane knew he needed to work quickly, but before he could get started, he felt a jolt of energy come from underneath him.

"Oh no…" Shane said, both psychically and physically, alerting Sami that something was amiss.

"Shane." He called out. "What's wrong?"

"He's waking up…"

In his room, Cesaro laid in his bed on top of the covers. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully until his breathing began to quicken. He involuntarily put his hand over his head and groaned as he felt a familiar pressure in his mind. Still slightly drowsy after being awaken suddenly, Cesaro felt himself trying to focus his mind on exactly what was causing the disturbance. He found Shane, fully aware that Cesaro was awake and knew he was there in his mind.

"_Claudio._" Shane said to Cesaro. "_It's alright. It's just me._" Shane then saw another pulse of amber light come from behind him and felt another rush of energy from below. He turned to see that the Mind Stone was slowly beginning to glow behind the red mass of energy, the shimmer from it making the mass appear like fire as it traversed around it.

"_Sh… Shane..._" Cesaro called out psychically as his physically body shifted in his bed once more.

In Shane's room, Sami began to feel Cesaro's presence. He then knew that something was gravely wrong.

"Shane." He called out quietly.

"H-he's fighting me." Shane said to Sami. Sami began to worry.

"Shane. Stop whatever you're doing and come back. Now."

Cesaro had begun to breathe heavily as sweat formed on his forehead. His fist clenched at the covers underneath him and his skin began to fill with pulsing golden veins. Cesaro's body appeared to be physically rejecting Shane's presence in his mind.

"_…Get out… of my head._" He said in his mind to Shane.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Stephanie was on the phone talking with Phil and AJ at the facility in Africa while Triple H worked through some of the financial documents with Big E's assistance.

"…Thank you both." Stephanie said.

"No problem, Stephanie." AJ said. "We're talking with the government here about the sponsorship and donations. They seem to be all for it, but we'll see when we present the numbers to them."

"You're both doing a wonderful job with the facility. I can say that I… " Stephanie paused as she felt Cesaro's presence flash through her mind. Her sudden silence made both Triple H and Big E look up from the papers and receipts on the table.

"Stephanie?" AJ said on the other line. "Stephanie, you there?" Stephanie almost instantly knew what was going on and immediately grew angry.

"Sorry about that, April." She said to AJ. "We'll talk about this more tomorrow. I know it's getting late over there."

"S-sure thing, Stephanie." AJ said with a hint of skepticism in her voice. "We'll get everything together here and we'll let you know what they say."

"Thanks, April. Thanks, Phil. Goodnight." Stephanie sat her phone down on the table as the call ended and held her hand over it.

"Steph… " Triple H called out to her. "What was that about?" She did not respond. Instead, she left her phone behind and made her way out of the kitchen. "Stephanie!" Triple H stood up and went after, Big E following behind him.

In Shane's room, Shane fought to maintain his place in Cesaro's mind as Sami watched with worry. He thought of removing his energy link to Shane several times over, but did not know what effect that would have had on Shane while he was still connected to Cesaro. Sami then saw Shane's nose begin to bleed and he grabbed his shoulders.

"Shane!" Sami shouted. "Stop it now! That's enough! You're hurting yourself!" Shane did not respond to Sami's pleas. He simply sat on the bed staring back at Sami with a blank stare and bloody nose.

"Let…me help you… Claudio." Sami saw Shane say. "…I'm…trying…"

"Get out of my head!" He shouted from his room as he sat up from his bed, his voice booming through the mansion. In Shane's room, Shane felt a sharp pain fell unconscious in Sami's arms.

"Shane!" Sami shouted as he caught the man to keep him from falling over. He removed his energy from Shane, fearing whatever happened to Shane would happen to him. The sound of Cesaro's shout caused Stephanie, Triple H, and Big E to quicken their pace, but the sound of a wrecking ball toppling a brick wall made them begin to run.

"Claudio!?" Big E called out to him as they ran for his room. Upon reaching it, they saw that the door had been blown open and Cesaro was sitting straight up on his bed, golden veins pulsing over his skin and the strange fiery energy surrounding his body. Upon hearing Cesaro's scream, Nikki and John had run down the hall to check on him only to see the trio just arriving at his door. Then, without a word, Cesaro telekinetically lifted himself off of the bed and used his power to blow a hole through the brick wall. The sound of the blast disoriented the three and caused them to cover their ears and take cover in the hallway. By this time, everyone on the second floor aside from Shane and Sami had made their way out of their rooms and into the hallway.

"Claudio!?" Bayley screamed as she made her way out of the room next to Cesaro's. "Are you alr-" She stopped upon seeing the smoke clearing from his room and the large hole letting in the air of the outside. She then looked over to Stephanie being helped up by Triple H. "Oh my god, what happened?" Before anyone could answer, they all heard John's voice call out for Cesaro as he, Nikki, Simon, and Naomi ran down the hallway from the lower floor. Then Sami ran from the opposite side of the hallway.

"Stephanie!" He shouted upon seeing her. "Shane's…" He stopped once he saw Cesaro's room destroyed. "Oh no…"


	12. Insecurity

The group of Alpha Humans all beheld the chaos of Cesaro's room after he awakened with a scream and broke through the wall to make an escape, the commotion disturbing all their actions and drawing their attention. Stephanie McMahon stepped into Cesaro's room and immediately felt as if the room were to cave in on her at any moment, not physically but mentally. Even in his absence, Cesaro's power commanded respect. Soon, she was joined by Big E, and John and Nikki Cena.

"What happened in here?" Nikki asked. "What happened to Claudio?"

"I heard what he shouted before he left." Bayley said from outside the room with everyone else. "He said 'Get out of my head'." Seth Rollins, standing next to her, shook his head in disbelief.

"Well." He said. "If that doesn't tell you what the hell just happened, I don't know what will. There's only one person doing the brain diving in this place and we all know who it is." Stephanie blinked as she realized what caused Cesaro's sudden outburst. Anger filled her chest as she made her way out of the room.

"Steph?" Triple H called out to her as she made her way past them all.

"Stephanie, please!" Sami pleaded with her as he followed behind her. "He's not conscious yet!" Stephanie stopped in her tracks and turned to face the red-head.

"He's not conscious?" She repeated. "What do you mean? What happened?" Sami shook his head.

"I… I helped Shane tap into Claudio's mind from his room since he couldn't do it on his own." Sami quickly continued before Stephanie could berate him for his actions. "I know it wasn't the best thing to do, but Shane made it sound like it was the only way." From how Sami made it sound to her, Stephanie concluded that Shane used Sami's trust in him as the catalyst in manipulating him to side with his reasoning, all of which made her angrier at her brother. Before she could make another move, they saw Shane McMahon open his bedroom door appearing completely drained of energy. Instinctively, Stephanie ran to her brother to keep him from falling over due to lack of energy, Sami joining her at help hold him up.

"Shane, are you alright?" Stephanie asked as Sami and she held him up.

"Stephanie… " Shane said weakly. "Where's Claudio?"

"Why don't you just dig in his head and find out, Shane?" Big E asked with anger. "That seems to be your go-to method with him after all."

"Ettore, please." Stephanie pleaded. She and Sami then felt Shane tear himself away from them so he could stand on his own.

"I… can't get into his mind now." Shane said. Stephanie eyed him.

"Shane." She said to him. "Tell me you didn't. After everything we said earlier, after everything that's happened… please tell me you didn't try to alter his mind again." Shane said nothing. He simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath as what he saw in Cesaro's mind still burned cool behind his eyelids.

"You don't understand." He said solemnly. "You've no idea."

"We do have an idea, Shane!" Triple H snapped back. "We know you're-"

"You don't know a damn thing!" Shane shouted, instantly silencing Triple H and giving everyone else pause. Shane then took a moment to calm himself before continuing. "None of you have any idea what we're dealing with now. He is not alone in his consciousness. Whatever happened out in space, whatever it was he absorbed… it's still in him. It's still there and it's corrupting him. Talking to him won't help. We're past that point. We need to stop whatever it is that's in him. We need to-"

"Enough, Shane!" Stephanie shouted, making her brother silence and turn towards. "I've had enough of this. I don't know what's wrong with you and I honestly don't care at this point. You wanna talk about corruption and subversion? If anything or anyone is guilty of that, it's you! You planted psychic bonds and images in Claudio's subconscious so that if anything were to go wrong, he would come only to you. You moved his memories around, shifted his thoughts, and tried to conscript his powers, all so you and only you could control him." Stephanie then made her way to face Shane, closing the space between so they were mere inches apart. "You've become an egomaniacal monster… and you are no longer welcome here in the Safe Haven." Shane's eyes widened at Stephanie's words and he backed away from her in shock.

"S-Steph… " He said. "You don't mean that. You can't kick me out."

"Yes, Shane." Triple H said as he made his way over to Stephanie and Sami. "We can… and we are." Still in shock, Shane looked around at all of the Superstars who eyed him with disdain for his actions against Cesaro. When he realize that all of them felt the same way, he turned back to Stephanie to see a single tear slowly fall from her hardened face. Without a word, Shane walked past the trio to head to his room and begin packing his things, closing the door behind him. Stephanie then let out a breath that she had been holding in since her husband took his place beside her.

"It's alright, Steph." Triple H said to her as he held onto her to console her.

"It's what needed to happen." Naomi said. "He was doing way too much." Stephanie closed her eyes to keep herself from crying from the disappointment she felt as she thought about her brother.

"What happened in the past can't be undone." She said. "Right now, we need to find Claudio and bring him home."

"Forgive me for being _that _guy here." Simon Miller said. "But how are we gonna find him? He can obviously fly… or teleport, or whatever that was earlier. He could be anywhere."

"We just need to figure out where he is." Sasha replied. "Don't worry about how we'll get there. We've got ways of traveling."

"We'll have to get in touch with all of the other Safe Haven embassies and tell them to look out for him." Stephanie said. "Then we'll start looking for Claudio." Sami had not looked up from the floor since Shane passed them on the way to his room; the feeling that Shane might be right stayed with him since he agreed to help him.

"What if he's right?" Sami said to himself without moving. His voice was not low enough, however, for Triple H not to hear.

"What, Rami?" Triple H asked, requesting Sami repeat himself. Sami looked up from the floor.

"What if Shane's right? What if Claudio is possessed by something?" Mojo shook his head.

"He ain't possessed, Man!" Mojo said to Sami. "Shane's been messing with his head."

"Yes, yes. I get that part."

"Then why even entertain Shane then, Rami?" Daniel Bryan asked. "You know it's not true."

"Look, I know what Shane did was wrong. Altering someone's mind or trying to take away their free will is terrible, yes. We all know that. I'm just saying… " He looked around at all of his friends eying him waiting for his explanation. "I'm saying that we don't know if what Claudio absorbed out there during the space mission was an actual solar flare since none of us have ever been in outer space, much less seen a solar flare up close. I just know that Claudio hasn't been the same since we came back."

"Claudio hasn't been the same since California, Rami." Naomi retorted.

"I know, but somehow this time feels different. All those other times in the past, Claudio may have acted differently, but I could still feel his Alpha Human energy. This time, I can't feel anything. I don't feel him at all."

"What do you mean you don't feel him?" John asked Sami as he approached him.

"John, I haven't felt his presence since we finished the mission. It's like his Alpha Human presence doesn't exist anymore. I don't know what it is, but I'm willing to bet money that it has something to do with that thing Claudio took in out there, and I'd up the wager and bet that it was no solar flare."

"So, wait a minute." Xavier Woods started, unable to wrap his mind around everything he was hearing as it was all new to him. "You're theorizing that Claudio has an alien life form living inside of him?"

"That's just it." Sami replied. "I don't know. It's just a theory, but it's theory with a lot evidence pointing in its direction." Nikki sighed.

"So." She said. "Shane could be right. He could be infested with something that might be corrupting him… killing him."

"No matter what the case is," Stephanie said. "We need to find him. I'll start calling the embassies and tell everything to be on the lookout. Then, we'll start looking for him. We need to get Claudio home and back with us before anything happens."

"Or before Zodrick finds him." Becky added. Stephanie shut her eyes as she kicked herself for not thinking about Zodrick or the President for that matter.

"Yeah." Triple H said. "Especially that."

* * *

Travis Browne had driven all through the night trying to calm himself after the argument he had with his wife, Ronda Rousey. He had his phone fixed on the dashboard using a phone carrier after turning back on when he grew tired of the music on the car radio, and it lit up with notifications from missed messages and calls from Ronda the moment he turned it on. With all the emotions going through his head, Travis knew that he was in no condition to speak to her so he left the calls and messages unattended to.

After driving around the city for nearly an hour, he found a small park with a fountain in the middle of it and decided to stop there and try to calm himself. He parked the car, grabbed his phone, and made his way towards a lit bench near the fountain. He sat down and allowed his mind to decompress. While the park seemed to be located in the middle of the city, it was remarkably calm and devoid of visitors, so it took no time for Travis to relax. His thought drifted from his friends to Ronda, back and forth, trying to think of what Maki would have told him to do about his wife and his feelings towards her new demeanor. It then came to him what he knew Maki would say.

"Dammit." Travis cursed to himself as he replayed it in his mind. He then pulled his phone out and looked at the many notifications. "_If you want it to work, then ya gotta talk to her._ That's exactly what you'd say." Travis then sighed as he began looking through the messages.

"_Please come back Trav I'm worried._" One of the message read. One other massage from Ronda caught his attention. It read, "_If you don't let me know you're ok I'm gonna come looking for you expecting the worst! Pls txt me._" That message had been sent nearly twenty minutes ago and surely Ronda had begun looking around for him. A devious part of him wanted Ronda to worry as retribution for her doing the same to him, but Travis's better judgment ultimately did not want to hurt her or have her suffering because of him. He took a deep breath and began to dial her number to call. The phone rung once.

"Oh my fucking god!" Ronda said. Her voice sounded as if his call woke her from her sleep, but he knew better. "Travis! You had me so worried!"

"I know." Travis responded. He heard Ronda sigh on the other end.

"Listen. I've been acting like such an ass to you lately. I'm just so stressed about work and everything changing so quickly, having to adjust to being away from my kids back at camp and not having them around to annoy me… I'm sorry for taking that out on you. I didn't realize I was doing it at first, but now that I've finally had some time to think, I know that I was. Please come back. I've a lot to tell you." Ronda tone was one that Travis knew well. She sounded defeated and vulnerable. It was a tone that Ronda seemed to only share with him. It is what made him fall in love with her to begin with. It seemed no matter how hectic life got for her and how much she fought to maintain it, Ronda would always give her everything to him in the end. He smiled.

"I've a lot to tell you, too." Travis said to her.

"You first." Ronda replied. "I'm all ears, I promise."

"I'm at some park right now. I don't think I'm far. I've just been driving around the city. I'll be back soon, though."

"I'll be waiting. I love you, Trav."

"I love you, too, Babe." He ended the call with a warm feeling in his chest and more hope than he had when he arrived. After sitting a moment, Travis stood to his feet. He looked at his phone once more as he made his way back to his car and saw that Macey had tried to call him. He decided to call her back when he made it to his car. The phone rung twice before Macey answered.

"Hey, ya big lummox." Macey answered. "I was calling to see if you heard from Ronda at all."

"I, uh…" Travis stuttered. "Yeah, actually. I did. I'm about to go back to the hotel now to talk to her."

"Oh. Well good. I'm glad she's alright, but you'd better knock some sense into her."

"Yeah, yeah. I've got her. Did you make it to see the McMahons?"

"Not yet. I ran into a bit of car trouble. I think something came loose under the hood again." Travis began to worry.

"You alright?" He asked Macey. "Need me and Ronda to come help out?"

"Nah. I've got it. My ride is old. It's probably something simple. If it isn't, then the tow truck's got it. You hash out whatever you and Ronnie have going on. I'll be fine. I just wanted to check in on ya. Don't forget to check on the team, okay?"

"Got it. Be safe, Macey."

"Will do, Travis. Be good." Travis ended the call, started his car, and pulled out of the parking lot to head back to the hotel Ronda and he were staying.

* * *

The wind and rain danced through the trees of a forest in an undisclosed location. The noise of the wilderness filled the air as the rainwater washed away the dry days prior and there, sitting on the ground leaning against one of the trees, was a confused and overwhelmed Cesaro. His head throbbed as he tried to understand what was going on in its confines and why Shane felt it necessary to enter his mind without his consent. Had he done it before that night? Was whatever it was too much too heavy to discuss with him? He knew it had something to do with the source of his power, the entity that called itself the Mind Stone, but he still had no knowledge of what Shane would want with it since he knew Shane had no clue what it was. Then there was the fact that his emotions were beginning to become too loud in his mind to bare and he has been unable to quiet them. It was almost as if they were contaminating his mind like some type of foreign virus even though he knew they belonged to him. What made everything worse was that his lack of control had begun to affect the ones he cared deeply for. The look of fear on Zodrick's face as he looked at him, dangling the man's body in the air by the grip on his damaged hand, the image of their faces as they looked at him after Zodrick and his team fled the mansion, both had been burned into the forefront of his mind and played several times over like a haunting vintage record whose lyrics spoke in a language unknown.

Then, there was John Cena… Cesaro's proclaimed best friend. The man who came to the Safe Haven mansion confused and uncertain about himself, just as Cesaro did years ago when he first arrived. The man whom he helped understand and learn to control his newfound powers as if it were an obligation. The man followed Cesaro back to Lucerne several months ago to face his now overwritten past and stood by him every moment. The man who, for reasons unknown to him, vowed to remain at his side whenever he needed him. The man who brought him back to reality with a single touch. The man whose presence surrounded him like a mighty ocean to a solitary island. The man who tore a hole out of Cesaro's heart with two words binding his heart to another. Cesaro had tried to convince himself that what he felt for John was simply because he was always around, but that was what made John's presence so vibrant in his mind. John had shown him kindness that not even the McMahons could compare to. His generous heart and strong spine unearthed Cesaro's prior reservations and disrupted him to his core. John belonged to Nikki Bella, however, and the proof resided in the rings on both their hands. Cesaro wanted to be happy for them and he was because they truly were his friends, but he could not deny the aching feeling beneath the surface that ate at the smallest part of him. It was a pain that no words could have described and it made him distant, torn away from everyone. Cesaro had never been sure of how he felt about John until the trip to Lucerne, but once he felt how genuinely caring John was, I knew that he wanted to be around him. John's marriage to Nikki, however, reminded Cesaro of what he had always understood. Regardless of how he felt or whether he wanted to, in companionship and in life, he would have to walk the trails alone.

Cesaro took a deep breath as his thoughts of John and his confusion concerning his growing powers continued to flood his mind and then was when he felt the heat filling his lungs. His thoughts had distracted him so that, until that moment, he had not noticed his body beginning to generate a heat that caused the rain to instantly evaporate upon touching his skin. Cesaro attempted to calm himself by clearing his head of his thoughts, instead focusing on where he could go to get further away from the mansion. He then stood to his feet and proceeded to telekinetically lift himself off the ground and into the starry night sky high enough to see the many contours of the landscape. The trees of the forests and the lights of the nearby city would have normally been a breathtaking view to Cesaro, but all he wanted to do was escape somewhere his friends would not find him. Cesaro then decided to make his way to the city, believing that the commotion would provide him with some type of distraction while he hid himself amongst the crowded streets.


End file.
